Foreign maids hear Mass with the pope

Foreign housemaids prayed with Pope Benedict XVI when he celebrated Mass in Beirut on Sunday, September 16. Lebanon has gained notoriety for mistreating domestic helpers that the Philippines, along with Madagascar and Ethiopia, have stopped sending their citizens to work there. There have been countless stories of Lebanese employers confiscating the passports of their maids who are beaten, humiliated, unpaid, and not given days off from work. But on Sunday, these horror stories were set aside as Asians and Africans alike joined Pope Benedict in his celebration of the Mass. Raymond Aoun, a Lebanese shopkeeper standing nearby, said, “Today, with the pope, we are all the same community.” Mary, a Filipina married to a Lebanese, also said she came to see the pope to get his blessing. “Here I feel in communion with the whole world,” she said.

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