Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai expressed his “desolation” over the continued fighting in the Ain el-Helweh camp which is “endangering the lives of civilians.” In his Sunday sermon, Archbishop Rai said that “these bitter events are a blow to the Palestinian cause.” He demanded that “Lebanon be neutralized from regional and international conflicts” and that it “controls its external and internal sovereignty through a single army and authority.”
Rai also stressed that the 23rd anniversary of the Reconciliation of the Mountain “is for us a commitment to pursue and develop.” He pointed out that “the martyrs fell so that we could witness the pluralism that characterizes Lebanon,” noting that “living together, based on national reconciliation and present in the Constitution, gives legitimacy to every state authority.”
Finally, the Maronite Patriarch reiterated his call for “the need to elect a President of the Republic and implement the Taif Agreement, in order to put an end to the chaos in constitutional authority, administrative and security appointments, and the random interpretation of the constitution.”
