Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai. (Credit: NNA)
In his final Sunday sermon before Christmas, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai expressed hope that lawmakers would use the parliamentary session on Jan. 9, 2025, dedicated to electing a president, to choose a head of state with the necessary qualities to lead Lebanon through "this particularly historic period."
"Lebanon needs a president who enjoys internal and external trust, one who believes in institutions and strengthens them, a president capable of advancing the economy and rebuilding homes destroyed in various regions of Lebanon, especially in the South, the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Bekaa, Baalbeck and beyond," the patriarch said from Bkerki. He added, "A president who strives to implement structural reforms and consolidates unity among citizens."
Describing the more than two-year presidential vacuum following the end of Michel Aoun's term on Oct. 31, 2022, as "shameful," Rai stressed that the presidential election was an opportunity for the Lebanese people to "restore hope in their homeland."
The parliamentary session to elect a president was scheduled by Speaker Nabih Berri immediately after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect. Potential candidates include General Joseph Aoun, the current army commander; Sleiman Frangieh, leader of the Marada Movement; Elias Baissari, acting head of General Security; Neemat Frem, a Kesrouan MP and industrialist; and Ibrahim Kanaan, a Metn MP.
The head of the Maronite Church paid tribute to the families of Fathers Antonins Albert Cherfan and Sleimane Abi Khalil, who were abducted in Beit Mery in 1990, following the Syrian army's entry into Christian regions. He called for their fate to be revealed in light of the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Earlier this week, the families of the two missing priests held a press conference, urging the state to make every effort to shed light on their case. Speaking on behalf of the families, attorney Charbel Cherfan stated that there is now "no reason to prevent contact with the new authorities on the ground in Syria to resolve the mystery of these disappearances."
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
