Anna Mitchell: We are honored to welcome back to the Sunrise Morning Show, Bishop Gregory Mansour, bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn. Bishop Mansour, welcome back to the show.
Bishop Gregory: Thank you very much.
Anna Mitchell: It's good to have you and we have been eagerly awaiting the meeting organized by Pope Francis to address the crisis in Lebanon and it is finally happening this week on July 1st. Who will be taking part in this meeting with the pope and what will they be doing?
Bishop Gregory: Of course the Pope will be there probably Cardinal Pietro Parolin, his Secretary of State; Cardinal Sandri, the head of the Congregation for Eastern Churches; the apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Joseph Spiteri; and of course the Maronite, the Melkite, the Syriac, the Armenian and the Coptic leaders. Maronite, Melkite, Syriac and Armenians would be the Patriarch and the Coptic would be local Latin local bishop as well as the Latin bishop as well as Evangelical and Orthodox leaders as well.
Anna Mitchell: And what is the purpose of this meeting? What do they hope to, I mean, are they hoping to accomplish something here?
Bishop Gregory: Yes, they are. It's for prayer, it's for sharing and it's for ecumenical encounter as the pope has said the other day. And the idea is that by the closer unity of the Christians perhaps that would inspire the political leaders who are right now torn between affinities towards Iran or affinities towards Saudi Arabia and hopefully to inspire the political leadership of the country to get their act together so that they can form a government.
Anna Mitchell: This is something that we've talked about a lot with the folks at in Defense of Christians about just the sheer incompetence that we are seeing from really what is the lack of a government in Lebanon these days. Can you give us the latest in terms of the state of affairs in Lebanon politically, socially, etc.?
Bishop Gregory: Yes. So there was a government that was formed about a year ago and then after the August 4th blast in Beirut harbor, that government all resigned. Another government was proposed but it was not received yet and we're still waiting to see if the members of that new government would be acceptable and on every side. And so the problem is, as I mentioned, Iran is pulling one way, Saudi Arabia is pulling another way and then you have the political leadership who have their own personal interests. That has created a real vacuum of governance in the country. So that's what we're praying for. That people would wake up to put their own interests aside, put Iran and Saudi Arabia's interests aside and focus on Lebanon.
Anna Mitchell: Because there is some major suffering happening right now. Correct bishop?
Bishop Gregory: Yes. For instance a family of four a year ago could live on a hundred dollars a month but with the drop of the currency of the Lira, that hundred dollars a month a year ago is now ten dollars a month.
Anna Mitchell: Wow ten dollars a month is what families have to live on?
Bishop Gregory: Well no; some of them but what to me is most amazing for you and the listeners is the outreach -- the humanitarian outreach of the Catholic Church. I mentioned the Melkite, Maronite, Syriac, Armenian, Coptic and Latin churches. They all have schools and hospitals and nursing cares, drug rehabilitation centers. These are all communities that work in their local parishes as well to work for the betterment of the poor. And that's the story of Lebanon. I hate, I can't stand the political ridiculousness of many countries, not just Lebanon. But, I love the passion and the service for the poor of the Catholic Church and that's what I'd love your listeners to take away. If they can help in any way they can go to our website. They can see ways in which we can help and that sustains the people of God on the ground.
Anna Mitchell: What is that website?
Bishop Gregory: “www”, “Saint Maron”, “s-t-m-a-r-o-n dot org”. That's “s-t-m-a-r-o-n dot org”.
Anna Mitchell: And we will have that linked at sunrisemorningshow.com for listeners so that they can find it that much easier. I did want to ask you, Bishop Mansour, I mean how important is the Christian community especially the leaders of the Christian community when it comes to rebuilding Lebanon?
Bishop Gregory: I cannot overstate the importance of the Christian communities in Lebanon. Their schools are open to Muslims and Christians alike. Their hospitals are open. I just went to a nursing home for special needs women and girls. Sixty percent of them are Muslim and the forty percent that Christian -- none of those families can pay for anything and it's the Sisters of the Cross who work for the poor and about fifteen staff members. Even in this most difficult time so the Christian community has taken up what the government has failed to do.
Anna Mitchell: How important is it for the people there to know that the pope is so invested in this?
Bishop Gregory: You know all of the popes have been -- Pope Paul, Pope John Paul ii, Pope Benedict, and now Pope Francis. They get Lebanon and what they get is that Lebanon is a country in which Christians deliberately work to include Muslims in a conviviality of common life. That's really big. That's really important for our world to see. Christians were not separated from them, from others. They worked with others to form a country and that's what the popes get and that's why the popes from John Paul ii on have said. “Lebanon is more than a country it's a mission”. It's a mission of East and West. An example for East and West and that's what we don't want to lose.
Anna Mitchell: So Bishop Mansour, what are your hopes for the results of this meeting that Pope Francis has organized?
Bishop Gregory: Well, I hope it'll bring attention of the world. Our pope, our patriarch in Lebanon wants two things: He wants to see Lebanon declared like a Switzerland of the Middle East, a neutral country so that every conflict of the Middle East doesn't engage Lebanon. That's first; second, he wants an international conference at the U. N. to help resolve some of the external issues that are that are blocking a formation of a government in Lebanon and we'll take care of the internal if we can, but the externals all need to be taken care of by the international community. So that's what our patriarch is hoping for and that's what the holy father by him bringing all of the Christian leaders to Rome will help to strengthen the vision of Lebanon, the mission of Lebanon, and hopefully the success of Lebanon.
Anna Mitchell: I'm sure that this is something that the Maronite community in the United States is praying fervently for alongside the Holy Father and the Christian leaders who will be meeting in Rome.
Bishop Gregory: Yes, we are. Bishop Elias Zaidan and myself penned a letter and sent it to all of our priests and our people and put it on our facebook pages. Just asking people to spend that day in a solidarity of prayer and fasting for Lebanon.
Anna Mitchell: Well we will join you in that as well. We've been talking to Bishop Gregory Mansour. He's the bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn and again, it's “stmaron.org” “s-t-m-a-r-o-n-dot-org” is where you can get more information to support the Christian communities in Lebanon and Bishop Mansour, we're so grateful that you had the time to join us and tell us more about this meeting. Be assured of our prayers and we hope to have you back soon. Thank you so much.
Bishop Gregory: Thank you, I appreciate it very much.