Pope, Lebanese Christian clerics pray for end to crisis

Pope Francis has welcomed Lebanon’s Christian religious leaders to the Vatican for a day of prayer

ROME -- Pope Francis welcomed Lebanon’s Christian religious leaders to the Vatican on Thursday for a day of prayer amid fears that the country’s descent into chaos is further imperiling the Christian presence in the country, a bulwark for the church in the Middle East. Francis greeted the dozen clerics in the lobby of the Vatican hotel where he lives shortly after 8 a.m. and together they walked across a small piazza inside the Vatican Gardens and entered St. Peter’s Basilica. There, they stood in silent prayer around the altar, and descended to the tomb of the Apostle Peter underneath to light a candle as a sign of peace. The small group of Christian Orthodox and Catholic churchmen was spending the rest of the morning and afternoon behind closed doors in talks about how to help Lebanon emerge from the political, financial and social crisis that the World Bank has described as one of the worst the world has witnessed over the past 150 years. At the end of the day, Francis will preside over an ecumenical service in St. Peter’s featuring prayers in Arabic, Syriac, Armenian and Chaldean.