LEBANON: Maronite Archbishops conclude monthly meeting with statement addressing pressing national issues

BETH KERKE, Lebanon — The Maronite Archbishops, headed by Syriac Maronite Patriarch Béchara Boutros al-Raï, held their monthly meeting at the Patriarchate headquarters in Beth Kerke (Bkerké). At the conclusion of the meeting, the Archbishops released a statement supporting the Patriarch’s call for Lebanon to adopt a policy of international and region neutrality and to hold an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations to extract the country from its trajectory of political and economic collapse.

The collapse of the currency and the deterioration of the economy are a sign of the total failure of the political authority, said the Archbishops.

The statement explained that the political authority has a duty to support the military authority, and that requires the approval of the necessary budgets to strengthen all elements of the Lebanese Armed Forces and various security agencies.

The Archbishops expressed their sympathy to the families of the victims of the horrific Beirut port explosion which occurred last August, demanding that the judicial investigation be expedited, that the case of those arrested be considered, and that those found innocent be released.

The statement concluded by praising the efforts of the Ministry of Health and the National Committee to respond to the Corona epidemic, encouraging citizens to abide by preventive guidelines.