Maronite patriarch's Jerusalem visit would be 'historic sin'

 A visit to Jerusalem by the patriarch of the Lebanon-based Maronitechurch to greet Pope Francis would be a "historic sin", a leading newspaper close tothe anti-Israeli Hezbollah said Saturday.Patriarch Beshara Rai, whose church is the largest Christian denomination inLebanon, told AFP on Friday he would travel to the Holy Land to welcome the pontiffduring his brief May 24-26 visit.In doing so, he would be the first patriarch to do so since the creation in 1948 ofIsrael, with which Lebanon is technically at war.In response, the leading Arab nationalist daily As-Safir ran a critical piece headlined"Historic sin: Rai goes to Israel".Calling it a "dangerous precedent", the daily argued that the trip would "not servethe interests of Lebanon and the Lebanese, nor those of Palestine and the Palestinians nor Christians and Christianity".It speculated on whether the patriarch, who is also a Roman Catholic cardinal,"would shake hands with Israeli leaders who will be in the front row to welcomePope Francis to Jerusalem".Even if he does not, he would still have to coordinate his trip with Israeli officials,the paper added, claiming that the visit "is part of the normalisation between thehead of the Catholic church and the occupier". Al-Akhbar, another newspaper close to Hezbollah, said a group of Lebanesepoliticians will try to dissuade Rai "from visiting Jerusalem as long as it is underIsraeli occupation, which would signify a normalisation with the occupier". Lebanese citizens are banned from entering Israel, but Maronite clergy may to travelto the Holy Land to minister to the estimated 10,000 faithful there.Rai insisted that the trip will be strictly religious and has no political significance. The Maronite church has its roots in the Fertile Crescent of the early 5th century. Itis named after St Maron, a hermit whose holiness and miracles attracted manyfollowers.Following a bloody persecution a century later, the Maronites fled to the mountainsof what is now Lebanon to seek refuge.They have their own distinct theology, spirituality, liturgy and code of canon law,but are in full communion with Rome.