The Maronite Patriarch, Bechara Rai, on April 8, 2026 during a tour in Kawkaba, in the Marjayoun district in south Lebanon. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
Four days after caricatures of Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai circulated online among Hezbollah supporters — triggering widespread outrage — supporters of the prelate continued to gather in Bkirki. Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel, lawmakers who have left the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), and lawyer Elie Mahfoud all visited the patriarchate's headquarters.
These visits come amid a broader political and religious reaction to recent online content and satirical publications that have fueled sectarian tensions, prompting condemnation from senior Lebanese officials, including President Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
The controversy erupted after the circulation on social media of content targeting Patriarch Rai, including altered and insulting images — such as montages replacing his head with a shoe, a pig, or Angry Birds characters, as well as another showing him alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Crime against the country
Arriving late in the morning at the head of a delegation, Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel — one of the first to express support for Bechara Rai on Saturday — reaffirming his support for President Joseph Aoun, "who has the courage to start a new chapter in Lebanon’s history, a chapter of stability, prosperity, and peace," according to remarks posted on his X account.
The head of state has launched an initiative to open direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah. This initiative eventually led to preliminary meetings between ambassadors, resulting in a fragile cease-fire that took effect on April 17 and has since been extended, though it remains violated by both sides.
Under pressure from Washington and Tel Aviv to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Joseph Aoun said Monday that a security agreement with Israel must precede any such meeting, arguing that now is "not an appropriate" time for it.
"President Joseph Aoun expresses our position, and we salute Prime Minister Nawaf Salam [who reiterated Monday that Hezbollah’s disarmament is essential], as well as the ministers who are leading the effort to restore stability and sovereignty. This path will not end, because all Lebanese support it," added Sami Gemayel.
"All Iranian statements confirm that Hezbollah is part of the Revolutionary Guard Corps. Therefore, the campaign that targets symbols of Lebanon is an Iranian campaign, not a Lebanese one. But today, it is up to members of the Shia community to reject this rhetoric," Gemayel said.
"How many, among the 1.2 million Shiites in Lebanon, are actually represented by this campaign and this rhetoric? We are certain that a large part of the Shiite community rejects this behavior today, and we await an expression of this rejection, starting with President [Nabih] Berri," he continued.
"What Iran is doing in Lebanon is a crime against the country, and this crime should be judged by international justice. Recruiting Lebanese and involving Lebanon in wars and destruction in the service of Iran and its interests has cost the lives of nearly 10,000 young Lebanese for causes that have nothing to do with Lebanon," Gemayel added.
Earlier in the day, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea also expressed his support for the head of state.
Legal action
Before the Kataeb leader’s visit, a delegation including Alain Aoun, Ibrahim Kanaan and Simon Abi Ramia — three lawmakers who left the FPM in 2024 — also met with the Maronite patriarch.
Following the meeting, Ibrahim Kanaan said: "Solidarity with the patriarch is solidarity with Lebanon and all parts of the Lebanese people, as he embodies Lebanon's founding history and its core national values." He added that "the neutrality advocated by the patriarch is a neutrality towards evil and violence, and against transforming Lebanon into an arena where conflicts over territory and sovereignty are settled." "What is wrong with negotiating for our country and rights, which are defended by the president, the government, and the army?" he asked.
At the same time, the patriarch received a delegation from the political party "Change Movement," led by lawyer Elie Mahfoud, along with Maronite lawyers who filed a complaint with the public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation over what they described as insults targeting the patriarch. The delegation handed Bechara Rai a full copy of the legal case file.
After the meeting, Elie Mahfoud said the campaign against the patriarch was part of a broader political context arguing that "What’s happening in Lebanon is not random chaos, but the result of a clear plan. Some want a weak state ruled by the logic of weapons rather than by law and institutions." He added that "a militia called Hezbollah bears direct responsibility for this direction," and said that attacks on religious and national figures reflect "a project against the state, not a partner within it."
