by KYW's Karin Phillips

The patriarch of Lebanon's largest Christian community, the Maronite Church, is visiting Philadelphia this weekend.

The first stop for Patriarch Nasrallah Peter Cardinal Sfeir, the head of the Catholic Maronite Church, is the first Maronite Church in North America -- Saint Maron's, at 10th and Ellsworth Streets in South Philadelphia.
  
Bishop Gregory Mansour, whose diocese covers this region, says the visit is of tremendous importance to members of this small branch of the Eastern Catholic church:

"He strengthens us. He's like Saint Peter among us -- to confirm and to strengthen us and to connect us with the whole church, the Maronite Church, throughout the world."

Maronites are one of the principal religious groups in Lebanon, and the patriarch is expected to speak out throughout his visit about the deteriorating condition in that country.

(File photo)