A Pastoral Stance from the Vatican: No Need to Force Expatriates to Support Their Homeland While Preventing Them from Voting

The Lebanese Embassy in Italy’s residency hall was filled with members of the Lebanese community who came from all over Italy to attend the reception held by the Lebanese Ambassador in Rome, Carla Jazzar, and the Lebanese Ambassador to the Holy See, Fadi Assaf, in honor of Cardinal Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, on the occasion of the religious and official delegation’s visit to Rome, on the sidelines of the canonization of the martyred Archbishop Ignatius Maloyan, martyr of the Lebanese and Armenian peoples.

The two new ambassadors in Italy and the Vatican wanted this occasion to be an opportunity for a comprehensive meeting of members of the Lebanese community in the “Lebanese House,” as Ambassador Jazzar put it, stressing that the Lebanese Embassy is the house that embraces all Lebanese expatriates, which was embodied in this lively meeting.

The meeting witnessed a remarkable presence and active participation from Patriarch Mar Ignatius Joseph III Younan, Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church of Antioch, and Patriarch Raphael Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos Patriarch of the House of Cilicia for Armenian Catholics, in addition to Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi.

The meeting was also attended by the Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to Italy, Qais Abu Diya, who told the “National News Agency”: “I wanted to be at this meeting to express my appreciation to the members of the Lebanese community, for whom I have all respect for the positive role they play in Italian society.”

The attendance also included the consuls general and honorary consuls in the major Italian cities, as well as representatives of associations and a group of priests and fathers from various religious orders.

Ambassador Carla Jazzar delivered a speech in which she welcomed Patriarch al-Rahi, Their Beatitudes, priests, members of the Lebanese community, and some Italian deputies who attended to share the community’s joy, stressing that: “This meeting brings together the church and the nation, faith and belonging, the resident and the diaspora Lebanon. Your presence among us, Your Beatitudes, is a blessing and a message of hope in which we affirm that Lebanon, despite all the difficulties, is still alive with its mission and its sons rooted in faith and love.”

For his part, Patriarch al-Rahi thanked the two ambassadors, Jazzar and Assaf, for the “beautiful meeting that brings together members of the Lebanese community,” considering this initiative a “good start for the new ambassadors,” and praised the “community that we are proud of.” He added: “The Lord always speaks to us, and in these days He speaks to us through Saint Ignatius Maloyan,” thanking the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, for “what he is doing for Lebanon and his participation in the canonization ceremony,” wishing him success.

Al-Rahi concluded his speech by emphasizing that: “We are all one, and we are all working to serve Lebanon, rebuild it, and bring peace to it, understanding, diplomatic and political negotiations,” stressing the importance of the role of expatriates, saying that: “It cannot be limited to asking them to help their country, while they are deprived of their right to choose their 128 deputies.”

For his part, Patriarch Mar Ignatius Joseph III Younan expressed his welcome for the presence of Ambassador Carla Jazzar and Ambassador Fadi Assaf and the staff of the two embassies, expressing his gratitude for the invitation, considering that “Lebanon is present here this evening in Rome, as we are in front of an open and active community, bearing the name of Lebanon, its civilization and its mission.”

He reminded the attendees that the Saint Archbishop Ignatius Maloyan was martyred 110 years ago, in 1915, in the city of Mardin, located in southeastern Turkey, noting that his family and the family of Patriarch Minassian came from Mardin, whose people were displaced after his martyrdom.

He added, “You carry the name of Lebanon, so always be proud of it, and of your love for each other, and of the true shared living, not just nominal, and also of the testimony that Lebanon will remain a country of civilization and the pearl of the Middle East. Thank you all, and special thanks to our Italian friends as well.”

As for Patriarch Raphael Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos Patriarch of the House of Cilicia for Armenian Catholics, he expressed his thanks to the Lebanese ambassadors in Rome and the Vatican, considering that this meeting is “an achievement that adds to the historic moment that witnessed the canonization of the Blessed Martyr Ignatius Maloyan,” saying: “In the march of the Armenian Catholic Church, last Sunday the canonization of the Blessed Martyr Ignatius Maloyan was announced, where the name of Mardin rises again, not only as an inspiring city, but as a living icon of a testimony tested by sacrifice and steadfastness, from which the Church emerged more solid and holy.”

He concluded by saying that this canonization is “not only a historical event, but a tribute to the memory of an entire people, and a consolation for a church that still expresses itself in the path of suffering.”