Monday, June 23, 2008

POPE PRAYS FOR SHIPWRECK VICTIMS AND PEACE IN LEBANON


VATICAN CITY, 22 JUN 2008 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus today, the Pope recalled victims of the typhoon Fengshen in the Philippines, and mentioned the beatification of the Lebanese friar Fr. Yaaqub (ne Khalil Haddad).

  "It was with great anguish that this morning I learnt of the wreck of a ferry in the Philippines, struck by the typhoon Fengshen which has swept across that area", he said. "As I give assurances of my spiritual closeness to the people of the islands struck by the typhoon, I raise a special prayer to the Lord for the victims of this latest maritime tragedy, in which so many children were also involved".

  The Holy Father then went on to recall that "today in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, Yaaqub (ne Khalil Haddad), priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins and founder of the Congregation of Franciscan Sisters of the Cross in Lebanon, was proclaimed a blessed. In expressing my congratulations to his spiritual daughters, I trust with all my heart that the intercession of Blessed Abuna Yaaqub, together with that of the other Lebanese saints, may enable that beloved and martyred country, which has undergone too much suffering, to finally progress towards a stable peace".
ANG/SHIPWRECK BEATIFICATION/...                VIS 20080623 (220)


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