Beirut (AsiaNews) The Patriarch of the Maronite Church, Card Nasrallah Sfeir, and the President of Lebanon will attend the Pope John Paul II's funeral in the Vatican.
With the Land of the Cedars still praying for the Pope, Card Sfeir went to the Apostolic Nunciature in Beirut to express his condolences. For him, Pope John Paul II was "a great friend of Lebanon".
The Cardinal also announced his intention of travelling to Rome sometime in the next few days for the funeral.
"With the Pope's passing," Mgr Bechara Rahi, Maronite Archbishop of Jbeil, told AsiaNews, "Lebanon has lost a friend, a father and a pastor, always attentive to developments in the country".
According to Archbishop Rahi, the positive changes taking place in the country, i.e. the pullout of Syrian troops, were the fruits of the "suffering of the Pontiff who so much loved Lebanon".
The Archbishop said that John Paul II "always carried Lebanon in his heart wherever he went", and added that the Holy Father "often talked about the problems of our country, sometimes even more than many Lebanese".
A press release from the Office of the Lebanese Presidency said that President Émile Lahoud will also attend the Pope's funeral.
The official Lebanese delegation headed by Lahoud will include the Speaker of the National Assembly Nabih Berri, a Shiite Muslim, and Prime Minister-designate Omar Karami, a Sunni Muslim.
It is also expected that many ministers and members of the National Assembly will also attend.