In his historical landmark visit to Lebanon, Pope Benedict XVI, has highlighted the Vatican position vis a vis a host of important issues the Syrian crisis comes atop of them

Dr. Ibrahim Mousawi

In his historical landmark visit to Lebanon, Pope Benedict XVI, has highlighted the Vatican position vis a vis a host of important issues; the Syrian crisis comes atop of them.

The message that the pontiff disseminated from Lebanon was a multifaceted one, and it included so many important issues; peace, coexistence, tolerance and partnership, but the significance of the whole visit and the messages delivered during it is being highlighted more and more because of the sensitively delicate and exceptionally turbulent situation that the whole region is going through.

The Pope has chosen Lebanon as a platform to launch his message to assert the pivotal role our country is prepared to perform in the region, and in the whole world at this juncture of time.

The first message the Pontiff sent, was a message of peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians which could ultimately serve as an exemplary model that could be emulated by all religious groups across the globe.

The second message expressed great fear over the Christians in the Orient, which reflects the serious concern of the Catholic Church about their fate.

The third message addressed the Syrian Crisis, and clarified the Pontiff approach which rejects the use of violence and call for the stoppage of arms shipments to the country, and most importantly, asserts the need for a political solution which could only come via thorough and persistent efforts to initiate a constructive dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition groups.

The Vatican perspective concerning the Syrian crisis is contradictory to the US and Western governments approach, and their conflicting positions put both parties on a colliding track. Of course, the Pope does not have the capability to mobilize and move armies, but he has, in his capacity, a great sentimental and moral power that adds a significant value and rally the support of people behind his viewpoint.

Amid this turbulent chaos tormenting the region, his voice comes as the voice of wisdom, rationality and reason compared to fanatic endeavors to destroy Syria and to drag it into a civil war which would lead into its destruction ultimately, and thus the exodus of its Christians as was the case in Iraq before, on the hands of almost the same Western and Arab powers.

The Public in the West has a great responsibility to take side with the Pope and not with the governments that brought to him nothing but disastrous results on social and economic levels because of its greedy and hostile nature to finance wars And occupation against our region.

And we have an equal responsibility to be successful whistle blowers who could participate in making the awakening come to the brain-washed Western masses who are either ignorant or indifferent about the criminal policies conducted by their representatives in governments and parliaments.

The battle for the most part is a battle of conscience and awareness, and people in the West have the means to bring the anticipated change by questioning their representatives about their actions, and by punishing them in elections unless they abide by certain conditions.

This is an indispensable and inevitable battle that should be fought to win the minds and hearts of the Western masses that can do and will do a lot, once they are in the right side of the equation, where only the voice of wisdom could resound and prevail.

 Dr. Ibrahim Mousawi is a political analyst and the Chief of Hezbollah’s Media Relations.