Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai welcoming Cardinal Parolin, Tuesday June 25, 2024, in Bkirki. (Credit: National News Agency)
Originally, a spiritual summit designed to stress the importance of coexistence was to be held in Bkirki on Tuesday, during the visit of Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.However, while most Christian and Muslim religious leaders responded to Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai’s call, the absence of a representative of the Shiite community was noticeable.Even the vice-president of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, Sheikh Ali al-Khatib, initially delegated by Jaafarite Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kabalan, did not attend, due to the increasingly sour relations between Bkirki and the Shiite tandem, i.e Hezbollah-Amal.The message, conveyed on Tuesday by Hezbollah’s circles and the mufti, can be summed up as follows: The Maronite patriarch’s recent remarks are unacceptable, in particular when he reportedly described Hezbollah as a...
Originally, a spiritual summit designed to stress the importance of coexistence was to be held in Bkirki on Tuesday, during the visit of Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.However, while most Christian and Muslim religious leaders responded to Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai’s call, the absence of a representative of the Shiite community was noticeable.Even the vice-president of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, Sheikh Ali al-Khatib, initially delegated by Jaafarite Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kabalan, did not attend, due to the increasingly sour relations between Bkirki and the Shiite tandem, i.e Hezbollah-Amal.The message, conveyed on Tuesday by Hezbollah’s circles and the mufti, can be summed up as follows: The Maronite patriarch’s recent remarks are unacceptable, in particular when he reportedly described Hezbollah as a...
