A Look at the Church in Lebanon (Papal Visit Begins on 9/14)

Papal Trip Begins in Just Over a Week

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 6, 2012 (Zenit.org).- For Benedict XVI's Sept. 14-16 apostolic trip to Lebanon, during which he will sign and issue the postsynodal apostolic exhortation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops, statistics concerning the Catholic Church in Lebanon have been published by the Vatican.

The information, updated to Dec. 31, 2011, comes from the Central Statistical Office of the Church.

Lebanon has a population of 4,039,000 of whom 2,148,000 (53.18%) are Catholic. There are 24 ecclesiastical circumscriptions, 1,126 parishes and 39 pastoral centres of other kinds. Currently, there are 53 bishops, 1,543 priests, 2,797 religious, 2 members of secular institutes, 2,301 lay missionaries and 483 catechists. Minor seminarians number 62 and major seminarians 390.

A total of 427,180 children and young people attend 907 centres of Catholic education, from kindergartens to universities, as well as 28 centres for special education. Other institutions belonging to the Church or run by priests or religious in Lebanon include 30 hospitals, 168 clinics, 39 homes for the elderly or disabled, 63 orphanages and nurseries, 22 family counselling centres and other pro-life centres, and 28 institutions of other kinds.

POPE BENEDICT XVI IN LEBANON (14-16 September 2012)

Schedule

Friday, the 14^th of September 2012

Rome

9:30 AM Departure by plane from Rome Airport / Ciampino to Beirut.

Beirut

1:45 PM WELCOMING CEREMONY

(Beirut-Rafiq Hariri International Airport.)

Speech of the Holy Father.

Harissa

6:00 PM Visit of St Paul’s Basilica in Harissa and SIGNATURE of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops.

Speech of the Holy Father.

Saturday 15^th of September 2012

8:00 AM Private Holy Mass.

Baabda

10:00 AM COURTESY VISIT TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE LEBANESE

REPUBLIC.

Private meeting with the President of the Republic.

Private meeting with the Speaker of the Parliament.

Private meeting with the Prime Minister.

(Ambassadors’ Hall at the Presidential Palace in Baabda.)

10:50 AM MEETING WITH THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF THE MUSLIM

COMMUNITY.

(Ambassadors’ Hall at the Presidential Palace in Baabda.)

11:15 AM MEETING WITH THE MEMEBERS of the government, institutions of

the Republic, the diplomatic corps, religious leaders and representatives

of the cultural world.

(May 25^th Hall of the Baabda Presidential Palace.)

Bzommar

1:30 PM Lunch with Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon, Members of the Special

Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, and the Papal

Retinue.

(Dining Hall of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate Bzommar.)

Bkerké

6:00 PM MEETING WITH THE YOUTH

(The square across from the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerké.)

Speech of the Holy Father.

Sunday the 16^th of September 2012

Beirut

10:00 AM HOLY MASS and presentation of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation

for the Middle East.

(Beirut City Center Waterfront.)

Homely of the Holy Father.

RECITATION OF THE ANGELUS.

Speech of the Holy Father.

Harissa

1:20 PM Lunch with the Papal Retinue at the Apostolic Nuncio in Harissa.

4:50 PM Farewell from the Apostolic Nuncio in Harissa.

Charfat

5:15 PM ECUMENICAL MEETING

(Hall of honor of the Syrian Catholic Patriarchate at Charfat.)

Beirut

6:30 PM FAREWELL CEREMONY

(International Rafiq Hariri Airport-Beirut.)

Speech of the Holy Father.

7:00 PM Departure by plane from the Beirut-Rafiq Hariri International Airport to Rome.

Rome

9:40 PM Arrival at the airport in Rome/ Ciampino.

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