Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
The month of July for Pope Benedict XVI started with his third Apostolic visit outside Italy, when he travelled to Valencia, in Spain, to take part in the 5th World Meeting of Families promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Family. In Valencia the Pope reaffirmed the value for civil society of the family founded on the sacrament of matrimony and he prayed that God might assist and strengthen the presence of the family in the world. On 11 July Pope Benedict XVI left the Vatican for a period of rest at Les Combes, in Valle d’Aosta, northern Italy. From there with deep concern and trepidation the Holy Father followed the dramatic events of the conflict in the Middle East. He also called a special Day of prayer and penance on Sunday 23 July to obtain peace in Lebanon and the whole of the Middle East, restating three rights which must be respected: the right of the Lebanese people to the integrity and sovereignty of their country, the right of the Israelis to live in peace in their country, the right of the Palestinians to have a free and sovereign state. The Pontiff expressed his awareness that peace is a gift of God and that it is to Him that man must turn: «What we can do - said Benedict XVI on Sunday 23 July from the parish church of Rhemes Saint-Georges -, bear witness to love and to faith; and cry out to God: we can pray! We are certain that our Father listens to the cries of his children».
