Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai emphasized that “heroism is not in creating a war with advanced weapons, but in using reason, avoiding war and keeping peace.”
In his Sunday sermon in Bkerke, Rai explained that “the development of weapons forced people to carry them, as war begets war and destruction,” stressing that “the displacement of citizens on the roads is unacceptable, the Lord taught us to replace the law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth with the law of love.”
He expressed the necessity to move away from the atmosphere of alienation and suspicion, which “disrupts the life of the state and society.” Additionally, he urged to “put above everything else the building of national unity in new ways and a new language,” emphasizing the importance of loyalty to Lebanon above all else.
“Lebanon is made up of 18 religious sects, that is, believers in God, and this faith obliges them to have relations with each other characterized by love, and if they are not, they are lying to each other,” he added.
