Plea for Lebanon

PEACE must be restored to Lebanon, Pope John Paul II urged over the weekend in a message to the synod of Lebanese Maronite Catholics. The Pope's message, which was videotaped for the synod, warned of the consequences of growing indifference among the international community to the plight of the Lebanese people, caught up in a situation regarded by many as hopeless.
In response to the papal plea, it was announced by the Vatican's envoy to Lebanon Mgr Alberto Sozzi, that the leaders of the rival Christian forces fighting for supremacy in East Beirut had agreed to a permanent ceasefire.
The Vatican has made repeated efforts to bring the conflict between the militias of General Michel Aoun and Samir Geagoa to an end since the fighting began on January 31.
Pope John Paul, who was in Malta this weekend, ended his three day tour of the island nation on Sunday. The visit was the first ever made by a pope to Malta, and was enthusiastically received by its Catholic population of 350,000.
Speaking on Sunday in the Maltese capital, Valetta, Pope John Paul warned the countries of eastern Europe against replacing a failed and inadequate culture which denied the spirituality of man with the "unbridled consumer mentality" of the West.