“Today I would also appeal to the international community to offer Lebanon concrete assistance, not only with words but with concrete actions in undertaking a journey of ‘resurrection,’” the pope said at his Wednesday general audience.
“It is my hope that the current international conference hosted by France with the support of the United Nations will prove productive in this regard.”
The conference raised $370 million in emergency aid for Lebanon, exceeding a target of $350 million set by French President Emmanuel Macron.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced in a video message sent to the event at the Fort de Bregancon in Bormes-les-Mimosas, southeastern France, that the U.S. would give an additional $100 million humanitarian assistance to the country.
The pope and Vatican officials have led an all-out push in recent weeks to mobilize international support for Lebanon, a nation of almost seven million people caught in one of the world’s worst financial crises in the past 150 years, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Food prices have risen by up to 400%, thefts have increased by 62%, and the country is facing a new wave of COVID-19 without a government.
Credit: Source link