Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bkerké (Agenzia Fides) - Some Countries behave towards Lebanon "as if it were a sovereign State", and claim to pursue a "right to protection". In this way, "in fact, Lebanon becomes a hostage of the confrontation regarding regional balances and international policies". This is what the Maronite bishops say in the final statement of their monthly assembly held on Wednesday, December 4thin Bkerké, under the presidency of the Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites Bechara Boutros Rai. In the statement sent to Fides Agency, it makes explicit reference to the acts of "piracy" against the sovereignty of the Lebanese State carried out by Israel through its "network of espionage and violation of the airspace". But there were also implicit references to the axis between Iran and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite party. In Lebanon – the Maronite bishops denounce - "every community folds up in the construction of their own 'mini-state' ", with the support of allies outside the country.
The Maronite bishops use harsh words against the Lebanese political class accused of servility, corruption and cronyism on a sectarian basis, while they express "their highest esteem for the role carried out by the army and all law enforcement" in a period when institutional and political paralysis put the Country at the risk of disintegration. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 05/12/2013)
