ASIA/LEBANON - Cardinal Raï on the assassination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah: "It has opened a wound in the hearts of the Lebanese"

Beirut (Agenzia Fides) - "The assassination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has opened a wound in the hearts of the Lebanese". But "the incessant martyrdom of Christian and Muslim leaders who believed in the cause of truth, justice and the defense of the weak strengthens the unity of the Lebanese, a unity of blood, belonging and destiny", said Maronite Patriarch Béchara Boutros Raï on the death of the leader of the Shiite Hezbollah movement, killed by the Israeli army in Beirut on Friday evening. He did so during the homily during Sunday Mass on September 29 at the Patriarch's summer residence in Dimane. A Mass - said the Lebanese Cardinal - celebrated to implore repose for the souls of the victims of these days and to ask for peace.

"Martyrdom for the common homeland," continued the Maronite Patriarch, "is the martyrdom chosen by believers of all Lebanese components who have united in it and left us an invitation to loyalty and fidelity to their sacrifice for a homeland they loved, even if they had different ideas about how to manage it and how to conduct politics."

"The blood shed by those who sacrificed themselves for the Lebanese homeland," continued Cardinal Raï, referring to the political-institutional crisis that has paralyzed the country for years, "calls us to defend Lebanon against any aggression and to elect a President of the Republic who will give Lebanon back its place among the nations." The post of Head of State, which in the Lebanese institutional system belongs to a Maronite Christian, has been vacant for almost two years due to cross-party and sectarian vetoes.

In his homily, the Lebanese Cardinal - who in the recent past had also been critical of the strategies of the Hezbollah militias - affirmed that "the international community is called to take serious measures to stop the cycle of war, death and destruction here and to prepare the ground for a just peace that guarantees the rights of all peoples and components of the region". "It is time", added the Maronite Patriarch, "for all Lebanese to understand that they have no one to help and support them except themselves, united and in solidarity with each other, committed to managing the affairs of the Lebanese home in the spirit of the National Pact, in a state of law and institutions". (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 29/9/2024)

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