During his sermon on Sunday in Bkerke, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai emphasized that “Lebanon cannot be manipulated by not electing a president because it undermines the covenant of coexistence.” He stated that the preamble of the constitution states that there is no legitimacy for any authority that contradicts coexistence.
Rai stressed that a president is “the only constitutional guarantor of the unity of the Lebanese people.”
“Only the president can restore the lost legislative authority to the parliament and the executive authority to the resigned government in administration, appointments, and other matters,” he added.
The Maronite Patriarch recalled the letter Saint Pope John Paul II wrote to all bishops of the Catholic Church on September 7, 1989. The pope had stated that “Lebanon is more than a country: it is a message of freedom and a model of pluralism for both the East and the West,” adding, “the absence of Lebanon is undoubtedly one of the greatest pricks of conscience for the world.”
Rai considered that no matter the hidden reasons behind not electing a president for Lebanon after it has existed for over a hundred years, “not electing a president undermines the covenant of coexistence at the level of parliament and government, and their legitimacy in the absence or exclusion of the Christian president.” He reiterated that “the preamble of the constitution states that there is no legitimacy for any authority that contradicts coexistence.”
The Maronite Patriarch read another passage of Saint Pope John Paul II who wrote in his apostolic exhortation “A New Hope for Lebanon,” that “Lebanon, composed of several human communities, is considered by our contemporaries as a model land. Today, as in the past, people of different cultural and religious backgrounds are called to live together on the same land, to build a nation of dialogue and coexistence, and to contribute to the common good. Today, Christian and Islamic communities strive to make their traditions more vibrant. This positive behavior can rediscover shared and complementary cultural riches, strengthening national coexistence.”
Rai concluded his sermon by saying, “If only our political leaders understood all of this and place the issue of Lebanon above all considerations.”
