Today, Bambi was moved to the core by the images coming out of her birth county. As you can see in the brief YouTube video below, Pope Leo XIV received a WARM welcome by everyone, from all walks of life and religious backgrounds, especially by youth.
Many old and young people travelled within the tiny country from ALL its different regions, including the destroyed south, to come to greet the Pope. Some even came from abroad while others visited from Syria and Irak, as he kindly acknowledged them all.
Pope Leo XVI embraced youth’s energy, listened to their inspiring stories or songs, and brought a breath of fresh air to all. He surely contributed to consolidate their faith, at the spiritual, human, civil, and universal levels. He also encouraged their loyalty for their country (i.e., asking them not to migrate anymore, if at all possible).
By emphasizing the values of kindness, forgiveness, interpersonal peace, and unity, Pope Leo XVI seemed to have implicitly validated Lebanese people’s desperate aspirations for peace, individually, domestically, and regionally. Perhaps most significantly, he may have acted as a role model for an agent of peace. It is Bambi’s hope that young people will value, demand, and insist on contributing to peace.
For all the above, thank you Holy Father Leo for being a ray of light in the darkness. As for Lebanon, may it find peace and rise in order to flourish and shine again.
