On Thursday, at 6:07 PM, the exact moment that Beirut was shaken and blown up by the explosion of several hundred tons of ammonium nitrate three years ago on August 4, 2020, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai celebrated a mass at Saint-George Cathedral in downtown Beirut in memory of the victims and for justice to be reached.
The relatives of the blast victims were present at the mass, clutching portraits of their loved ones who were killed in the tragic explosion.
In his sermon, Rai acted as spokesman for their grief and suffering. He stressed that the truth “cannot be hidden,” going on to say that “this truth, which “they” have been trying to conceal for three years, is about the identity of those responsible for the explosion and the storage of ammonium nitrate at the port, and of course, the source of the ammonium nitrate. It is also about negligence, since nothing was done (by the authorities) when they were alerted to the danger of the stored nitrate, which was neither removed from the port nor returned to its consignee.”
“Our Lord considers politicians who claim innocence but are betrayed by their actions to be hypocrites, as they prove themselves to be when they do everything to avoid appearing before the investigating judge,” added the Patriarch. “If you are truly innocent, why are you running away from justice and hindering the investigation?”
“The truth will not be buried,” Rai insisted. “It will continue to challenge the conscience of all those responsible for the explosion, like the voice of God that pursued Cain, night and day, when he killed his brother Abel: “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out from the earth to me.” Abel symbolizes the 235 victims and the more than 5,000 wounded and disabled, the hundreds of thousands of homes, sacred places, and establishments destroyed.”
In reaction to politicians’ “indifference,” which he criticized, the Patriarch expressed his “support for the victims’ families’ call to set up an international commission to investigate the facts and help the investigating judge (Tarek Bitar) accomplish and complete his mission.”
He also asked specific countries to hand over any data they might have which could help the investigation progress. He also called on them to put an end to Lebanese political interference in the investigation.
