The head of the Maronite Church, Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai, denounced on Sunday the delay in the presidential dossier, affirming that “the Church cannot stand idly by in the face of the failure of the officials to ensure the common interest.”
“We refuse to subordinate the election of a President of the Republic to a person, a group or a project,” said Rai in his Sunday sermon. “We also refuse to remain without a president while the state institutions are collapsing, the people are living in poverty, the Constitution is violated, and we witness a brain drain.”
Addressing the war in Gaza, the Patriarch condemned “attacks on homes, schools, churches, mosques and hospitals, aimed at expelling Palestinians from their territory.” He reiterated the Church’s support for the Palestinians, stating that “the solution lies in the creation of two states.”
