The meeting on Thursday at the Vatican between President Joseph Aoun and Pope Leo XIV was far from simply protocol. Between the only Christian president in the Middle East and the leader of the Catholic Church, there was much more at stake than the usual issues discussed by leaders when they meet. In this particular case, and at this especially delicate time for Lebanon, the agenda included the Christian villages of the South and the threat looming over the survival of their inhabitants.The president wanted to thank the pope for his constant concern for the residents of the South, particularly the Christians, but above all, he wished to pay tribute to the role played by Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Paolo Borgia in this context. Some observers recall that Rmeish, Ibl, and Ain Ibl, three Christian villages in the Bint Jbeil district, were...
The meeting on Thursday at the Vatican between President Joseph Aoun and Pope Leo XIV was far from simply protocol. Between the only Christian president in the Middle East and the leader of the Catholic Church, there was much more at stake than the usual issues discussed by leaders when they meet. In this particular case, and at this especially delicate time for Lebanon, the agenda included the Christian villages of the South and the threat looming over the survival of their inhabitants.The president wanted to thank the pope for his constant concern for the residents of the South, particularly the Christians, but above all, he wished to pay tribute to the role played by Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Paolo Borgia in this context. Some observers recall that Rmeish, Ibl, and Ain Ibl, three Christian villages in the Bint Jbeil district, were...
