Vatican "foreign minister" expresses hope for Lebanon summit

Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, Vatican foreign minister (CNS photo/Cia Pak, United Nations)

Archbishop Paul Gallagher says Pope Francis’ summit next month with Lebanon’s Christian leaders could help resolve a “complex situation” in the Land of Cedars

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s “foreign minister”, has expressed hope that a Vatican summit next month between Pope Francis and Lebanon’s Christian bishops could help resolve the current crisis in the Middle Eastern country.

The 67-year-old English prelate, who is officially the pope’s secretary for relations with states, said the Holy See moves carefully and methodically when dealing with delicate issues such as those in Lebanon.

“Step by step, this is the way we do things,” he said May 31 on the sidelines of a meeting on religious freedom organized by the Italian Embassy to the Holy See.

“Because you cannot foresee the future, even in this country” where the “situation is complex”, the archbishop added.

Gallagher, a career papal diplomat who has been in his current post since 2014, said the July 1st summit was the result of “a request that was sent” to the pope by the Christian leaders of Lebanon.

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