Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai at the Presidential Palace in Baabda. (Credit: Photo archive Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — The Maronite Patriarchate has invited all 64 Lebanese Christian MPs from various sects to a "day of prayer" on Wednesday, April 5, in the run-up to the Easter holiday.
In a statement issued Friday by the patriarchate, Bkirki invited all Christian MPs "to a spiritual day of Lent and prayer" on April 5 in Harissa, near the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon.
"In these times of Lent, we hope to be able to gather Christian MPs and the leaders of their parliamentary groups for a spiritual retreat," Patriarch Bechara Rai said in his most recent Sunday homily. He recently drew up a list of ten potential consensus candidates for the presidency, which L'Orient-Le Jour obtained.
Lebanon has been without a president since the departure of Michel Aoun on Oct 31. MPs have still not managed to elect a successor after eleven consecutive electoral sessions, due to a lack of political consensus. Bkirki advocates a third way out of the Sleiman Frangieh-Michel Moawad confrontation. Amal and Hezbollah has formalized its support for Frangieh, leader of the Marada Movement, while leaving the door open for dialogue. Michel Moawad is supported by part of the opposition, which has not managed to gather sufficient votes to ensure his victory.
The name of the commander-in-chief of the army, General Joseph Aoun, is also on the table, a position traditionally reserved for Maronites. The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, has so far stated that he is opposed to all three names.