Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stresses that the Syrian settlement cannot be imposed by any foreign interference

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stresses that the Syrian settlement cannot be imposed by any foreign interference.

Al-Rahi went on Saturday to Syria’s Damascus, where he held a mass at the Maronite Cathedral of St. Anthony in the district of Bab Tuma for the occasion of St. Maroun.

He said that the reform in Syria is reached through internal efforts and dialogue, explaining that it cannot be imposed by any foreign interference.

“Reform is needed in every country but it should be pursued through internal cooperation.”

 “Any role for the international community should not contradict with this,” al-Rahi said.

“We came to pray for Syria's citizens and for the return of the refugees to their country,” he said.
"We pray each day for the end of war and violence and that a unanimous peace may be achieved through cooperation,” the Patriarch stated.

On Sunday, al-Rahi attended an enthronement ceremony for Greek Orthodox leader Youhanna X Yazigi.
The ceremony took place at the Church of the Holy Cross in Qassaa, a central neighborhood of the conflict-hit Syrian capital.

Gregorios III Laham, Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, was also among the top spiritual officials present at the mass.

TV footage showed al-Rahi and Laham speaking with Syrian Deputy FM Faisal al-Mekdad as he entered the church to attend the ceremony.

Yazigi was chosen as the Patriarch of Antioch and the whole of Levant on December 17, replacing Ignatius IV Hazim who died earlier in the same month.