President Michel Suleiman and Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday expressed hope that a new government in Lebanon would bring "longed-for stability to the country, as it faced major internal and international challenges", the Vatican said.

The pontiff and Suleiman during their half-hour meeting also "stressed the importance of involving religious and civil authorities to make people aware of peace and reconciliation," the Vatican said in a statement.

President Michel Suleiman travels to Rome on Tuesday to participate in a ceremony that would unveil the St. Maroun Statue at the Vatican, further delaying the formation of the government.

The ceremony will take place at the St. Peter’s square on Wednesday and will be attended by Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, Lebanese expatriates and representatives of political parties.

Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Sunday wished Premier-designate Najib Miqati success in forming the government and stressed support for the liberation of land within Lebanon’s natural boundaries.

“We wish him (Miqati) success and congratulate anyone who has been tasked with forming the new cabinet,” Sfeir said at Rafik Hariri international airport before heading to Rome to participate in the unveiling of the statue of Saint Maroun in Saint Peter’s square.

A furious 36-year-old Italian woman has filed for divorce just a month after her wedding because her husband brought his mother on their honeymoon, ANSA news agency reported Wednesday.

As the couple set off for their honeymoon to France in December, the newly-wed was shocked to find her new mother-in-law at Rome's Fiumicino airport, all set to come on the trip, the agency cited her lawyers as saying.

The pope on Friday approved a miracle attributed to Pope John Paul II's intercession and set May 1 as the date for his beatification, an event that will be a major morale boost for a church reeling from a wave of violence against Christians and fallout from the clerical sexual abuse scandal.

Pope Benedict XVI declared in a decree that a French nun's recovery from Parkinson's disease was miraculous, the last step needed for the beloved pontiff's beatification.