Letter of Benedict XVI to His Beatitude Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir February 26, 2011 - ES Mr. - Pope Benedict XVI yesterday received in audience Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch.
Today the Vatican published a letter that the Holy Father sent His Beatitude Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir when he accepted his renunciation of the Ministry of Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites:
A His Most Eminent Beatitude Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre
Sfeir Maronite Patriarch of Antioch
year spent in 1000-6 hundredth anniversary of the death of Saint Maron reaches its conclusion: a time of grace was granted to Maronite Church during this jubilee exceptional. It is also the culmination of your service for the greater glory of God and the good of all his faithful.
God in His unfathomable love you shaped and marked its indelible mark for a special election for his service. This choice has found his secret correspondence in your reply to the free and enthusiastic example of the Mother of God: "Let me according to thy word!" (Lk 1, 38).
You could celebrate last year's sixty years of priesthood: proof of loyalty and love for Jesus Christ, the High Priest. In July, you'll another opportunity to raise a thanksgiving to the Holy Trinity for the completion of fifty years as bishop.
For almost twenty-five years you have worked with both of your predecessors in the See of Antioch before being chosen by the Synod to succeed them April 19, 1986: a turning point that puts you on the threshold of your silver jubilee in this office.
You started this noble ministry of Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in the turmoil of the war that bloodied Lebanon for too many years. With the ardent desire for peace for your country you have driven this Church and traveled the world to comfort your people forced to emigrate. Peace finally came back, always fragile, but still present.
Pope John Paul II, I have the joy of the Blessed proclaim May 1, has called you to become a member of the College of Cardinals, November 26, 1994, to insert yourself into a deeper communion with the Church Universal. The arrival of my venerable Predecessor in Beirut in 1997, sign the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation: A New Hope for Lebanon, scored again on a constant link with Your Church the Successor of Peter.
When I convened the extraordinary Synod for the Middle East in September 2009, I have appointed Deputy Chairman ad honorem to emphasize the value of ecclesial service you have done in the name of Christ.
These days I blessed the statue of Saint Maron placed with St. Peter's Basilica at the end of the jubilee year and I was able to greet you and the President of the Lebanese Republic and numerous bishops and faithful.
You have chosen to forego the burden of Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in this very special occasion. Now, I welcome your free and magnanimous decision is an expression of great humility and deep detachment. I am sure you will always accompany the path of the Maronite Church in prayer, wise counsel and sacrifices.
I ask God Almighty through the intercession of Saint Maron and Our Lady of Lebanon, to fill you with his blessings. With all my heart, I send you my Apostolic Blessing, as well as bishops, priests, consecrated persons and all followers of the Maronite Church, and the beloved Lebanese Nation!
the Vatican, February 26, 2011.
BENEDICTUS PP XVI
hilda.barhoum @ wanadoo.fr
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