Lebanese Forces (LF) deputy, Sethrida Geagea. (Photo: NNA)
Several Lebanese Christian MPs responded to the historic visit of Pope Leo XIV to Lebanon, which ended on Tuesday. Lebanese Forces MP Sethrida Geagea saw the visit as reinforcing the idea that the state must regain its sovereignty and disarm the militias established in the country, including Hezbollah.
"Today, more than ever, Lebanon needs the state to regain its authority. The Holy Father’s visit brings us a clear message: there can be no peace without a state, no state without sovereignty, and no sovereignty with weapons outside legitimacy," declared the wife of the party's head, who is staunchly opposed to Hezbollah on the political scene.
This statement comes at a time when Lebanon is under heavy pressure from Washington to push Hezbollah to hand over its arsenal to the Lebanese Army, which it continues to refuse despite the Lebanese authorities’ decision, taken at the beginning of August, regarding the monopoly on arms.
At the same time, Israel has ramped up its attacks in recent weeks despite the cease-fire signed between Lebanon and Israel at the end of November 2024, and continues to occupy five border points in Lebanon, even though it was supposed to withdraw fully under the agreement.
The Bsharri MP nevertheless warned that “despite the positive aspect of the pope’s visit, the shadow of escalation remains, and the possibility of renewed Israeli strikes persists as long as the roots of the problem are not addressed,” adding that the truce “was neither honored as it should have been, nor implemented.”
Meanwhile, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and Batroun MP, Gebran Bassil, said on X that the pontiff "left the country as everyone would have wanted him to extend his stay in this homeland, carrying the message he urged us to live by and spread through openness, dialogue and coexistence, so that peace may prevail.”
Dissident FPM MP Simon Abi Ramia, for his part, said that Leo XIV's visit "demonstrates once again that this country, despite all its hardships and upheavals, remains a great nation, capable of recovering and accomplishing miracles."
He added that "despite the sense of absence, helplessness or sometimes failure of the state, the Lebanese have proven that they can turn challenges into opportunities and that the will to live is stronger than all crises."
