Maronite Patriarch visits South Lebanon in historic and rare visit

In another historic visit, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi launched on Saturday a three-day trip to South Lebanon, in which he is expected to tour the resistant and triumphant southern towns, and where huge crowds would welcome him and salute his national stances.

From the southern city of Tyre, the patriarch began his full schedule. He was welcomed by Jaafari Muftis Hassan Abdullah and Madrar Habbal, a number of bishops, Minister Mohamad Fneish, and MPs Ali Khreis, Abdul Majid Saleh, and Michel Moussa, as well as a number of locals.

The patriarch delivered a speech in which he hoped that God would inspire political leaders to take the appropriate decisions that would fall in Lebanon’s favor. “We hope they will take political decisions that can ensure the people’s freedom and protect the coexistence between Muslims and Christians in Lebanon and the whole region,” he said. “We are not idly watching the developments in the Arab world, but we are praying for them and all the people who are seeking to live in dignity and peace,” he added.

Minister Mohamad Fneish in turn said, during a lunch banquet organized in Rahi’s honor, that the patriarch’s courageous and brave stances do not represent a temporary political positions but, instead, a national vision. He noted that the balance of the people-army-resistance was not fabricated as it is the natural fruit of a long experience full of sacrifices and victories. He hailed the partnership slogans raised by Rahi, saying that only through resorting to the logic of dialogue, Lebanese would be able to build their nations and to protect their country and its sovereignty.