News/International

BEIRUT (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI will visit Lebanon Sept. 14-16, Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara Rai announced during Easter Mass at the patriarchal seat in Bkerke, Lebanon.

Patriarch Rai said April 8 that the Pope will meet with the country's religious and civil officials, including President Michel Sleiman, a Maronite Catholic. During an open-air Mass in Beirut Sept. 16, the Pope will present the apostolic exhortation on the October 2010 special Synod of Bishops, which met under the theme: "Communion and Witness."

In a statement, Sleiman said the pope's visit would affirm the depth of the "historical relations that tie Lebanon with the (Vatican) and will form an occasion to focus on Lebanon's position, message and role as a witness of freedom and coexistence."

It marks the pope's second visit to the Middle East; in May 2009 he visited Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The announcement comes amid increased concern over the plight of Christians across the Middle East, emigrating in increasing numbers.

Of Lebanon's population of nearly 4 million, approximately 33 percent are Christian, considered a high estimate. Half a century ago, Christians represented about half the population.

In Iraq, a Christian exodus since the American-led invasion in 2003 has reduced the Iraqi Christian population by two-thirds.

In an interview with Vatican Radio broadcast April 9, Archbisop Paul Sayah, vicar general of the Maronite Patriarchate, said the pope's visit would "inject a new dynamism," not only in the Lebanese society and Christians, but in the whole region.

Noting that the Christian presence in Lebanon has a "significant impact" on the country, Archbishop Sayah said the visit would "incite the Lebanese once again to play the role they are expected to play in this part of the world."

The archbishop said the apostolic exhortation would offer "a special message not only to Lebanon but also, and especially, to the countries of the region" where the outcome of the "so-called 'Arab Spring'" is still "not yet clear."

The pope's message, he said, will be especially important for the "tragic situation" in Syria, "which I am sure the Holy Father will address in one way or another."

The Arab world "badly needs a word of encouragement, a word of hope," he said, emphasizing that Christians in the region need directives on how to approach the "new reality" of the difficulties they face amid a revolution in their homeland.

PAXTON, Mass. - Anna Maria College has rescinded its invitation to the widow of Sen. Edward Kennedy to speak during spring commencement ceremonies after a local bishop said he found her an "objectionable" choice because of her association with organizations whose points of view are contrary to Church teachings.

Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Mass., said he told the president of the college that he would not attend the May 19 commencement if Victoria Reggie Kennedy were the speaker and the recipient of an honorary degree from the institution.

"My difficult is not primarily with Mrs. Kennedy,"said McManus. "My difficulty is with the college choosing her to be honoured by allowing her to be commencement speaker and giving her an honorary degree.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI called for continued efforts to rid the world of land mines so that people could be free to walk the earth without fear of injury or death.

"I encourage all those who are working to free humanity from these terrible and insidious devices," the Pope said, as he expressed his closeness to all victims and their families.

WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. - The Dalai Lama was named March 29 as the winner of the 2012 Templeton Prize.

A statement from the John Templeton Foundation, which selects the winner, said his “long-standing engagement with multiple dimensions of science and with people far beyond his own religious traditions has made him an incomparable global voice for universal ethics.”

The prize, which includes an award of about $1.7 million — the monetary award must always be larger than those offered in the Nobel Prizes — will be presented to the Dalai Lama in London May 14.

VATICAN CITY - Rebels fighting to establish a separate state in northern Mali destroyed a Caritas office and a local church in Gao, one of the cities they captured in late March and early April, according to Caritas Internationalis.

"Caritas staff fled Gao on Saturday. We learned from our guard today that the center and the church compound have been destroyed," the priest who directs Caritas Gao told the organization's Vatican-based central office April 2.

"We have received calls from the small Catholic community left in Gao. They are now in hiding, fearing for their lives," said the priest, identified only as Father Jean-Jacques. He said there are about 200 Catholics living in Gao, a city with a population of more than 85,000 people. The vast majority are Muslims.

MANCHESTER, England - A Catholic nurse in central England has won a battle over her right to conscientiously object to involvement in abortions.

The nurse, who asked not to be named because of fear of reprisal from her hospital employer, convinced National Health Service managers that her right to conscientious objection was protected by law.

Without anyone going to court, the managers dropped their threat to dismiss the nurse because of her refusal to work in an abortion clinic attached to the hospital in the British Midlands, she told Catholic News Service April 2.

MEXICO CITY - The Mexican Senate narrowly approved a constitutional provision providing "freedom of religion," days after Pope Benedict XVI completed a visit to the country marked by an outpouring of enthusiasm and affection.

The Senate approved changes to Article 24 of the Mexican Constitution March 29, guaranteeing freedom of religion and making it possible to lift restrictions on religious groups to hold services outside of authorized churches without first seeking government permission. Earlier in the day, the Senate approved changes to Article 40 of the constitution by including the word "secular" as one of the descriptions of the Mexican state.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has donated $100,000 to help the people of Syria.

The Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Vatican's charity promotion and coordinating office, announced March 31 that the Pope made the donation to fund "the charitable work of the local church in Syria supporting the population" that has been hit by the ongoing violence in the country.

The council's secretary, Msgr. Giampietro Dal Toso, was to personally deliver the aid March 31 and meet with Melkite Patriarch Gregoire III Laham of Damascus, Syria, as well as other local church leaders.

HAVANA - Preparing to leave Cuba at the end of a three-day pastoral visit, Pope Benedict XVI made his first reference to the U.S. embargo of the island and the embargo's impact on the country's poor.

All Cubans need to work together to build a renewed and reconciled society, but progress is difficult given a "lack of material resources, a situation which is worsened when restrictive economic measures, imposed from outside the country, unfairly burden its people," the Pope said March 28 during his official farewell ceremony. He did not mention the United States by name.

HAVANA - Pope Benedict XVI met former Cuban President Fidel Castro in the apostolic nunciature in Havana March 28 and answered the ailing former leader's questions, the Vatican spokesman said.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said he was watching the two men through a window, and afterward he spoke with the Pope about the conversation, which seemed very animated.