Pope Francis does not provide an occasion without announcing his support for Lebanon and the Lebanese people facing poverty, hunger, disease, and mismanagement by their rulers.
From the first moment of the outbreak of the October 17 uprising, the Pope expressed his support for the "rebellious" Lebanese youth and blessed the uprising of the free, the hungry, the oppressed, the plundered, the afflicted, the disadvantaged, and the marginalized, to enjoy a country and a state that protects them and secures their future.
This article was originally published in and translated from Lebanese newspaper Nidaa al-Watan.
Three and a half years have passed since that uprising, and the situation is worsening. Just as the authority continues to kill and tamper with the country's capabilities, the "opposition," or those who called themselves "revolutionaries," have failed to unify the vision and draw up a rescue action plan that will restore the country to its former state and stop the bleeding.
When the presidential vacuum occurred on May 25, 2014, the Holy See quickly intervened and did what it had to do at all levels to shorten the vacancy.
And since 2013, he had given the green light to the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, to move to avoid the occurrence of a vacancy, especially since his indications were evident.
Since his election as patriarch, Al-Rahi hastened to gather Christians to agree on crucial matters to confront, for example, the process of selling land, geographic and demographic change, agreeing on a unified election law, and limiting the nominations for the presidency to the four Maronite leaders.
The Vatican's effort at that stage focused on contacting significant and active countries, taking advantage of the Vatican's diplomatic presence in the decision-making countries, according to Nidaa al-Watan.
The Holy See coordinated its steps with France to end the vacuum and try to reach the election of a new president. But the year 2023 seemed completely different from the previous stage.
In this round, France's Emmanuel Macron is trying to break the will of the Christians rejecting the nomination of the head of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Frangieh, and is working to deliver it because there is a network of businessmen's interests between France, Beirut, and Africa, tyrannical, and the priority is not to try to save the Lebanese reality.
Attempts are repeated by the active circle between Beirut and Paris to win the approval of the Vatican. One of the businessmen works to secure a visit for Frangieh to the Holy See to confirm that the largest Christian authority in the world supports Frangieh. In contrast, he works day and night in Bkerki to extract a position from the Patriarch Al-Rahi that supports Frangieh.
The Vatican circles express their annoyance with the French activity and the "brokers" working on the Beirut-Paris line. There is no date for Frangieh to visit the Vatican, and the Holy See will not get involved in the names game.
The Vatican's position is as follows:
First: Not to enter into the game of nominating names and not prefer one name over another.
Second: The need for deputies to do their part to respect democratic frameworks and the constitution and to stop the obstruction process.
Third: Preserve the position of the presidency for Christians, given that it is the first and most crucial Christian position for the Christians of Lebanon and the East.
Fourth: Not to break the will of Christians in the presidential election, for which candidate should be embraced by Christians and all Lebanese.
Fifth: Any president must ensure Islamic-Christian parity, not "amputate" the Christian role, and preserve the "Taif" agreement.
Without parity and preserving the Christian role, Lebanon will not exist as everyone knows it, and playing with parity and minimizing the Christian role will lead to undesirable results.
The Holy See rejects all attempts to include it in the bazaar of the Lebanese presidency and resents dealing with this file as "brokers" and securing the interests of states at the expense of the interests of the Lebanese.
On the other hand, Paris was not spared from the criticism of the Holy See because of its "presidential behavior," especially since the Vatican is saying that deputies must elect a president without external interference.
The Holy See aspires to elect a reformist president who meets the aspirations of the Lebanese people, not to be a cover for the current authority, and his electionto be a continuation of the rulers' approach.
From here, the Vatican's resentment of Paris' presidential steps is understood because what it is doing is not what Rome and the Lebanese people wish for, said Nidaa al-Watan.