Pope Benedict XVI, in Lebanon, Makes Plea for Religious Freedom BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI appealed on Saturday for religious freedom in the Middle East, calling it fundamental for stability in a region bloodied by sectarian strife. L'Osservatore Romano , via Associated Press Pope Benedict XVI meeting on Saturday with religious authorities in Mount Lebanon. Benedict spoke on the second day of his visit to Lebanon, a country with the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East. He arrived amid a wave of violent demonstrations across the Muslim world over an anti-Islam film. "Let us not forget that religious freedom is a fundamental right from which many other rights stem," he said, speaking in French to government officials, foreign diplomats and religious leaders at the presidential palace in Mount Lebanon in the southern suburbs of Beirut. He held up Lebanon, which is still rebuilding from a devastating 1975-1990 civil war fought largely on sectarian lines, as an example of coexistence for the region. He said Christians and Muslims in Lebanon shared the same space - at times in the same family - and asked, "If it is possible in families, why not in entire societies?" Marriages in which husband and wife are from different religious groups are not uncommon in Lebanon. He said the freedom to practice one's religion "without danger to life and liberty must be possible to everyone." The papal visit comes amid soaring sectarian tensions in the region, exacerbated by the conflict in Syria, which is in the throes of an 18-month-old civil war. A predominantly Sunni opposition in Syria, a Sunni-majority country, is fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, whose government is dominated by Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population, say they are particularly vulnerable to the violence sweeping the country of 22 million people. They are fearful that Syria will become another Iraq, with Christians caught in the cross-fire among rival Islamic groups. Thousands of Christians have fled areas where heavy fighting has taken place, including the once religiously mixed central city of Homs. Rebels have controlled Homs's Christian neighborhoods of Hamidiyeh and Bustan al-Diwan since early February, and most of the neighborhoods" residents have fled. On Saturday, a Syrian priest from Homs said the Archdiocese of Syriac Catholics in Hamidiyeh was set on fire last week. The motives behind the attack were unclear. The priest, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said in a telephone interview that the attack took place Thursday. He said residents tried for 14 hours to put out the raging fire because fire engines could not reach the area, which is under rebel control. No further details were available. He said that around 80,000 Christians used to live in Hamidiyeh but that now only 85 people remained. In Lebanon, enthusiastic crowds lined the streets and cheered along the 30-kilometer motorcade route to the palace as Benedict went by Saturday in his bulletproof glass vehicle. Soldiers on horseback rode ahead of the car. As the pope arrived in the presidential compound, officials released about 20 white doves.