Mansour Labaky during the interview with RLL journalist Ildico Elia, posted online at the end of March. Screenshot from the RLL wesbite.
He was expected to retreat in silence. Instead, Mansour Labaky — a defrocked Maronite priest — has reemerged in recent weeks, breaking a long silence with a filmed interview in which he admitted to making “many mistakes” but insisted he “never committed any crime.”Labaky, defrocked by Pope Francis and the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in September 2022, had largely vanished from public view. But in recent weeks, several interviews, glowing profiles, and expressions of support in Lebanese media have prompted concern among victims and church officials, raising fears of a rehabilitation campaign.The first of these appearances aired March 23 in a multipart Facebook interview conducted by journalist Ildico Elia of Radio Liban Libre, a station affiliated with the Lebanese Forces. In five episodes, each more than 40...
He was expected to retreat in silence. Instead, Mansour Labaky — a defrocked Maronite priest — has reemerged in recent weeks, breaking a long silence with a filmed interview in which he admitted to making “many mistakes” but insisted he “never committed any crime.”Labaky, defrocked by Pope Francis and the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in September 2022, had largely vanished from public view. But in recent weeks, several interviews, glowing profiles, and expressions of support in Lebanese media have prompted concern among victims and church officials, raising fears of a rehabilitation campaign.The first of these appearances aired March 23 in a multipart Facebook interview conducted by journalist Ildico Elia of Radio Liban Libre, a station affiliated with the Lebanese Forces. In five episodes, each more...
