Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai stated that “it is time to begin to purify the memory together through a sincere and frank dialogue, aiming at reconciliation and strengthening balanced participation in governance and administration, in order to save Lebanon and rebuild it as a message-bearing country.” He affirmed during his Sunday sermon that “it is essential to work together on fundamental issues, as purifying the memory is necessary for all and is the only path to national unity, as well as psychological, security and social stability.”
In this context, he referred to the speech of President of the Republic Joseph Aoun during the Iftar held on Thursday at the presidential palace in Baabda. President Aoun had stated that “the legitimacy of any authority in Lebanon rests on unity and conviviality.” According to the patriarch, this idea stems from the introduction of the Lebanese Constitution, which states that “the legitimacy of any authority within the state resides in the fact that we are together, that we rejoice together, that we resist together, and that we are all under the aegis of the national pact.”
For Patriarch Rai, the president's speech “constitutes a call to purify the memory of painful and wounding scars from the past,” a necessary condition to “rebuild society.”
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