Maronite patriarch hospitalized, condition not serious

BEIRUT — The press office of the Maronite Patriarchate said Friday morning that Patriarch Bechara Rai is currently hospitalized for an "intestinal disorder," but that his condition is not serious, denying rumors circulating since the previous day that his health required "delicate monitoring."

"The patriarch's condition is stable and he had to be hospitalized due to an intestinal disorder related to the difference in temperature between the coast and the mountains," the press office specified.

Archbishop Rai is currently staying at the Patriarchate's summer residence in Dimane, in the mountains of northern Lebanon. "He is undergoing tests and is being treated in accordance with this health condition, nothing more and nothing less," the Patriarchate said.

The 85-year-old Maronite patriarch had taken several weeks of rest in the spring after fracturing his hip in a fall during Easter Mass. He resumed his activities in the course of May.