Address of Patriarch JOHN X The Christian–Muslim…

Your Holiness the Pope,

Your Eminences, Holinesses, and Beatitudes,

Distinguished Guests,

As the Latins have said, Ex Oriente Lux, ‘Light comes from the East.’ From the radiance of this East, we warmly welcome you, Your Holiness.

Welcome to Lebanon, the land where the righteous of the Lord flourish, like the cedars of Lebanon.

It is a source of great joy for me to welcome you in the language of Ḍād, a language baptized by Christians, as we exist in the heart of this Arab world.

Welcome to the East, the land that received Christ as a newborn child, the land where His Cross took root, that welcomed the footsteps of His disciples and carried the Good News of His Resurrection to the ends of the earth.

Welcome to the Church of Antioch, where the disciples were first called Christians. The Church of Antioch, in all Her diverse communities, the first Church founded by the Apostle Peter, embraces, through your honorable presence, the Church of Rome, this Church that planted the roots of faith in Christ throughout Europe.

Welcome to Lebanon! “Lebanon is more than a country, it is a message,” a title first given by Charles Malik, the brilliant son of our Antiochian Church who played a foundational role in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This title was later reaffirmed by the late Pope John Paul II during his visit to Lebanon.

Welcome to this unique country, a nation that breathes with both its Muslim and Christian lungs. Welcome to Lebanon, a land of shared existence, where its many components do not merely coexist but complement, resemble, and ultimately meld into one another to shape Lebanon.

Welcome to the land neighboring Syria and Palestine, the Middle East region that you have chosen as the first destination of your apostolic journeys abroad. In making this choice, it is as if you are proclaiming that the Christians of the East stand at the very heart of the Apostolic See’s concern.

Your very presence here is, in itself, a message. We place before you this country and this land, with all the symbolism we have just mentioned, and we are confident that we remain in your prayers, just as you remain in ours.

And finally, once again, welcome to this East. The face of Christ, revealed in the harmonious and loving presence of Christians alongside a tolerant Islam, will never disappear from this region.

Long live Your Holiness the Pope, long live all of you, and long live Lebanon.