Sunday, 17 August 2014

Rai: National Pact is the spirit of Lebanon



BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai lauded the principles of diversity and coexistence that are characteristic of the National Pact Sunday, saying that all components of Lebanese society constitute an added value to a united national fabric.


“The National Pact is like the spirit of the Lebanese entity,” said Rai, highlighting that it is based on a rejection of religious theocracy as well as atheistic secularization.


The Patriarch spoke on the core principles of the National Pact, saying that the Lebanese have embodied all its components through an equal power sharing formula between Christians and Muslims in the fields of governance and administration.


Rai said that the Lebanon “is fully independent, with an Arabic identity and belonging.”


“Lebanon collaborates with Arab and foreign countries while keeping a balance between both,” he added, saying that Lebanon grants neither entities guardianship nor privilege over the country.


During a graduation ceremony hosted in Biel in Downtown Beirut, seventy students from the Lebanese diaspora were awarded certificates that would allow them to receive a Lebanese citizenship from the respective embassy or consulate in their home state.


“Citizenship will give you and generations after you, all civil rights, and will keep [official] records of your names,” he said.


“The immigrant cannot be equal to the deceased,” Rai added, saying that members of the Lebanese diaspora ought to be recorded in official records.


The National Pact, set up by Christians and Muslims in 1943, is a charter that lays down the principles of coexistence between the two religions.



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