Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri denounced on Friday “the smear campaigns waged against the Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, following his heartfelt call for support for the displaced” in South Lebanon.
“His Eminence’s call to support the displaced reflects a national and unifying position,” Berri said, condemning the campaigns against Rai which he said were the result of a “misunderstanding.”
The Patriarch had called on the parishes on Wednesday to “provide financial contributions to our compatriots coming from the southern cities” and to hand over the collections made during Sunday mass. According to him, this forced displacement due to armed clashes on Lebanon’s southern border “exacerbates poverty.”
Former head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Joumblatt condemned “any inciting speech, particularly towards Patriarch Rai, at this exceptionally critical time for Lebanon and the region. Internal unity is above all considerations,” he said on his X account (formerly Twitter).
As for the President of the Catholic Information Center Abdo Abou Kassam, he stressed that the Patriarch’s detractors “will not succeed in undermining the dignity of his eminence.”
Moreover, the Presidents of the Maronite League and the Executive Committee of the Maronite General Council, Khalil Karam and Michel Matta respectively, denounced the attack. Karam indicated that “legal measures would be taken” against the defamers.
Additionally, several MPs denounced the campaign against the Patriarch, including Michel Moussa, a member of the Amal parliamentary bloc, Jimmy Jabbour, a member of the Free Patriotic Movement bloc and Salim el-Sayegh, a member of the Kataeb bloc. The latter declared that the campaign could “transform the humanitarian and national issue, which concerns everyone, into a denominational issue.”
Furthermore, Rai received on Thursday a delegation of presidents of village councils in southern Lebanon who welcomed the Bkirki initiative and expressed their gratitude to the Maronite Patriarch for his “Gospel-based” stance.
