
Maronite patriarch Rai addresses supporters in Dimane on Sunday. Fathi al-Masri/AFP
All eyes were on Diman Sunday, as a large crowd gathered in solidarity with the Maronite Patriarchate following the arrest last week of Archbishop Moussa al-Hage.
In a sermon at his summer residence, the head of the Maronite Church Bechara al-Rai furthered his ongoing confrontation with Hezbollah, following comments the party made last week that appeared to accuse him of “collaboration” [with Israel].
Surrounded by several MPs and supporters of the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb party, the prelate pointed a finger at Hezbollah in the arrest of the Maronite Archbishop of Haifa on July 18. Hage’s arrest is said to be a strong message from Hezbollah to Rai, who lately has been outspoken against the party’s weapons.
Rai said the patriarchate would continue its struggle to enshrine Lebanon's “positive and active neutrality” in relation to the regional “conflict of axis,” a notion that has become Bkirki’s preoccupation for more than two years and to which Hezbollah, involved in several regional wars, is firmly opposed.
The patriarch also remarked on the Hage’s arrest, calling for an international conference on Lebanon in order to “address the controversial issues that the country fails to resolve.”
Hage was interrogated for 13 hours by the Lebanese authorities when he passed through the Ras al-Naqoura border crossing on July 18 on his way back to Lebanon from Israel in possession of cash and medical aid provided by people of various faiths to their relatives in Lebanon.
Commenting on this case in his Sunday sermon, Archbishop Rai said that “the sovereignty of Archbishop Hage was violated in Naqoura,” adding that it is “unacceptable to cause harm to an archbishop without referring to the patriarchate.”
“We reject these politically motivated police actions and call for the return of everything confiscated from the prelate,” continued the patriarch. Lebanese authorities had taken Hage’s passport and cell phone as well as donations of some $460,000 dollars that were in the possession of the prelate.
What about Akiki?
In his sermon, Rai made no reference to Judge Fadi Akiki, the government commissioner of the interim military court, on whose orders Hage was arrested.
But Akiki came under Bkirki’s fire in the days immediately following the incident.
The Maronite archbishops had even called for Akiki’s dismissal. Could the notable absence of Akiki’s name from Sunday’s sermon be a first step toward a compromise?
“This is not the logic of the patriarch. He will lead the battle to the end,” an MP for Nabatieh who was present in Dimane Sunday said, on condition of anonymity.
Rai did not mince his words.
“Those who harm Lebanon must stop saying that aid comes from collaborators,” he said in his sermon. Hage is accused by Lebanese authorities of having channeled funds from an enemy state and imported Israeli medicines.
“Look for collaborators elsewhere; you know who they are and where they are,” Rai said, alluding to Hezbollah, which is accused of working in favor of Iran in Lebanon and the region.
In addition to defending the Archbishop of Haifa, Rai was responding to comments by the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad.
“Collaboration with the enemy is a national betrayal and a crime, and it has no sect,” Raad, an MP for Nabatieh, said on Saturday during a ceremony in South Lebanon.
“But what should we do if someone who is punished for collaboration becomes a representative of a whole community and this whole community rises up to defend him?” he asked.
Raad’s comments on Saturday were the first time that Hezbollah came out of its silence about Hage’s case.
At first, Hezbollah avoided getting involved in the case, likely to prevent further strain with the Maronite patriarchate. Relations between the two have been rocky for several years, notably since Rai’s visit to Israel in 2014.
But today, Hezbollah appears to have a change of heart. Sheikh Ahmad Kabalan, a Jaafari mufti who is close to Hezbollah, spoke shortly after the church service that was held in Dimane.
“We do not want to slide into an emotional game that tears the country apart and leads it into the unknown,” Kabalan stressed, noting that “everyone is subject to the law, whether they are a sheikh or an archbishop.”
“We must protect Lebanon and not be lenient in security matters or when it comes to national interests,” Kabalan added, arguing that “the protection of Christians and Muslims is through hostility toward Israel.”
FPM isolation?
Rai is unlikely to fight the war of words against Hezbollah alone. He already has the support of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Beirut, Bishop Elias Audi.
“We are for accountability and sanctions against any criminal, thief or violator of the law, whoever they may be, but what happened with the archbishop is unacceptable,” Audi said in his Sunday sermon.
“What happened reveals a new approach to the security and judicial treatment of cases and will have dangerous repercussions in the country,” he added.
“If the arrest of the archbishop is a message sent to the church to stifle its voice, you should know that the church does not yield to threats or bad faith.”
On the political scene, Rai has benefited from the support of several parties, including the LF and the Kataeb. Supporters of these two majority-Christian parties showed up in large numbers in Dimane yesterday to display solidarity with the patriarch.
Speaking to the crowd on Sunday, Rai — surrounded by several LF and Kataeb MPs — again denounced the arrest.
“What happened is an insult to the Maronite Church, to the patriarchate and to me personally,” he said, reiterating his call to return the archbishop’s confiscated possessions.
While both Kataeb and LF sources told L’Orient-Le Jour that their partisans showed up in Dimane spontaneously, their support of Rai further highlights the political isolation of the Free Patriotic Movement, an ally of Hezbollah.
“Two months separate the country from the presidential election,” a member of the March 14 camp told L’Orient-Le Jour.
This leaves the FPM in an embarrassing position. It cannot oppose Bkirki and does not want to be at loggerheads with Hezbollah ahead of the election, which will determine the political future of the party founded by Lebanon’s current president, Michel Aoun.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.