The “tensions that still exist demonstrate the need to continue down the path opened some months ago with the Doha Agreement, in order to build Lebanese institutions together," Pope Benedict noted. "In this commitment to the common good, people must be guided by an unshakeable certainty: each member of the Lebanese people must feel Lebanon as their home and know that their own concerns and legitimate expectations are effectively taken into consideration, while showing reciprocal respect for the rights of others."
This can be done by encouraging the youth, he continued. “It is necessary to promote and develop true education for peace, reconciliation and dialogue, directed above all at the young generations.”
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“Lasting peace, which is the profound aspiration of all Lebanese, is possible only if everyone gives fundamental importance to the will to live together in the same land, and considers justice, reconciliation and dialogue as the appropriate context in which to resolve the problems of individuals and groups," the Holy Father asserted.
Noting that the Holy See follows events in Lebanon and the Middle East closely, Pope Benedict concluded by greeting the Catholic community in Lebanon inviting them to become “architects of unity and fraternity.”