Pope Francis invited Lebanese politicians on Sunday to “put aside … their personal interests” and reach an agreement to fill the power vacuum in a country that is going through an unprecedented political and financial crisis and where there is currently no is a president.
“I use (this moment) to appeal to Lebanese politicians: you have to put aside your personal interests, pay attention to the country and find an agreement,” the Pope said at a press conference on board the plane that brought him back. from Bahrain.
He added: “I don’t mean ‘save’ Lebanon, because we are not saviors. But please: support Lebanon, help it out of this bad situation. Let Lebanon restore its greatness,” noting that there are “ways. “to such.
Lebanon was left without president after Michel Aoun’s term expired earlier this week without choosing a successor, at a time when the country has been suffering from an economic crisis for more than three years.
Lebanon has witnessed one of the worst economic crises in modern history since 2019, according to the World Bank. Since then, the Lebanese pound has lost more than 95 percent of its value against the dollar on the black market, while poverty rates have risen, affecting most of the population.
Pope Francis said that Lebanon is “very generous and suffers”, noting that he felt “pain” in the face of the horrors that the country is going through, where 80 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
The Pope mentioned Lebanon in his last public address, delivered in the morning in a church in Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain. He said: “When I see the believers of Lebanon who are present, I affirm my prayers and my closeness, especially to that beloved and tired country that is going through an ordeal and from all the suffering peoples of the Middle East”.
