While Trump Brokers a Ceasefire, Pope Leo Paints Lebanon as an Ecumenical Heaven

As President Trump announces a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Pope Leo IV is hailing the deeply divided Land of Cedars as a model of ecumenical understanding between religions. Following conversations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Lebanese president, Michel Aoun, Mr. Trump said on Thursday that the two leaders have agreed that “in order to achieve peace between their countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day ceasefire at 5 pm EST.”Mr. Trump says he has invited Messrs. Netanayhu and Aoun to the White House. “For the first time in 44 years,” he told reporters Thursday, “Lebanon will be meeting with Israel, and they’re probably going to do it at the White House over the next week or two.” He indicated that the Lebanese army and Israel will disarm Hezbollah together. A day earlier, the president claimed that he had arranged a phone conversation between the two leaders. Yet Mr. Aoun announced he had no intention to make the call. The Lebanese president, a Maronite Christian, is walking a tight political rope. A large majority in the country increasingly blames Hezbollah for endless wars with Israel, even as a sizable Shiite community is sympathetic to the terror group. Deep sectarian divides have long pitted Lebanon’s Christian, Druze, Sunni, and Shiite communities against one another. Yet Pope Leo, speaking to reporters on his plane while traveling in Africa, is hailing Lebanon as the epitome of peaceful coexistence between religions.“I think one of the great lessons that Lebanon can teach to the world is precisely showing a land where Islam and Christianity are both present and are respected, and that there is a possibility to live together, to be friends,” the pontiff said. He hailed “stories, testimony, witnesses that we heard, even in the past two days, of people helping each other, Christians with Muslims, both of whom had had their villages destroyed.”After the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington met at the Department of State on Tuesday for what was described as a first step toward a peace pact, Hezbollah members of the Lebanese government announced they would not abide by any agreement between the countries.A top reason that Lebanon’s Sunni and Christian politicians are hesitant to confront Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, is fear that any agreement with Israel would reignite a civil war. For decades Lebanon has been plagued by seasonal confrontations between armed factions belonging to the country’s main sects. The pontiff’s conclusion that Lebanon is “a land where Islam and Christianity are both present and respected,” then, is unsupported in history and current conditions. Nor is his conclusion that Christians and Muslims are now “helping each other.” In reality, factional resentment is intensifying. The war of words between Mr. Trump and the Vatican simmered for days after Pope Leo criticized the president for the Iran war. Despite reported political advice from top aides, Mr. Trump escalated the dispute with ever-harsher tones. On Thursday, though, he seemed to attempt a less critical approach.“I want him to preach the gospel, I’m all about the gospel,” the president told reporters, speaking of the pope. But “as president of the United States of America, I can’t allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” He claimed that Iranian negotiators “already agreed” not to seek nuclear weapons, so “that’s good news, and I think the pope will be very happy.” Pakistan and the Iranian mullahs demanded a ceasefire in Lebanon as a precondition for Iranian-American negotiations. Mr. Aoun said he would agree to meet Israelis only after a ceasefire. Iranian diplomats nevertheless traveled to Islamabad last Friday and Israeli and Lebanese representatives attended a Tuesday meeting at Washington.The Israel Defense Forces will remain in south Lebanese positions during the 10-day ceasefire, Jerusalem officials say. The army took over the Shiite-dominated region near Israel’s northern border after Hezbollah joined the Iran war on March 2.Tehran will likely claim now that it and Hezbollah forced Israel to agree to a ceasefire. The pact has angered many in Israel, who claim such pacts in the past led to a resurgence of the terror group. The agreement, though, will likely pave the way for a resumption of talks at Islamabad on a deal for ending Iran’s nuclear pursuit.“It’s gonna be a very good deal,” Mr. Trump said Thursday.

While Trump Brokers a Ceasefire, Pope Leo Paints Lebanon as an Ecumenical Heaven

While Trump Brokers a Ceasefire, Pope Leo Paints Lebanon as an Ecumenical Heaven

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