Pope appeals for peace at huge Beirut seafront mass

Hundreds of thousands of worshippers have attended a seafront Mass in Beirut on the concluding day of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Lebanon.The Pope appealed for leaders in the Middle East to work for peace and reconciliation and urged those at the service to “be peacemakers”.He also renewed his call for a end to the violence in neighbouring Syria.The Pope’s visit has also coincided with anti-US protests across the region over a film deemed insulting to Islam.It is the first papal trip to Lebanon since John Paul II went there in 1997.An estimated 350,000 worshippers gathered for the waterfront Mass. They waved flags and cheered as the Pope made his way through the crowd in his bullet-proof popemobile.During the service, he urged Christians throughout the Middle East to do their part to end “the grim trail of death and destruction” in the region.Calling again for peace in Syria, he said: “I appeal to the Arab countries, that, as brothers, they might propose workable solutions respecting the dignity, the rights and the religion of every human person.”Christians from around Lebanon, as well as Syria, Iraq and further afield, travelled to see him speak in what must have been a very thrilling day, the BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut says.