LEBANON: Syriac Maronite Bishops call for lifting parliamentary immunities

BETH KERKE (BKERKI), Lebanon – Headed by Syriac Maronite Patriarch Mor Béchara Boutros Raï, and with the participation of the directors of the Church’s institutions, the Syriac Maronite bishops in Lebanon held their monthly meeting at the Patriarchate in Bkerki on Wednesday, August 4 – the 1-year anniversary of the Beirut Port explosion. The fathers of the Syriac Maronite Church reflected on the growing financial and economic hardship afflicting all Lebanese, as well as state institutions and public facilities.

The bishops addressed several issues concerning the situation of the Lebanese people. In their communique they called for support for the work of the Lebanese judiciary in the Beirut port explosion investigation by lifting immunities of members of parliament, former ministers, and senior officials. They called for an end to diluting one of the country’s greatest humanitarian and national catastrophes in the maze of small policies.

The assembly of bishops expressed its satisfaction with the start of consultations to form a Lebanese government, to proceed with the required reform that the international community is demanding for in order to help Lebanon.