BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Christian politicians should incorporate Christian values into their political behavior and immediately elect a new president for the country, Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai said Sunday.
“Christian politicians should embody the bible’s values in their family, social and national lives,” Rai said, while delivering his Sunday Mass speech at the Lady’s church in Bkirki, “to revive in the heart of citizens, and especially youth, the hope for a better future.”
Rai told the congregation that he attended the International Network of Catholic Legislators’ conference last week at Frascati, Italy, where he was impressed to see European lawmakers committed to practicing their Christian faith and values while fulfilling their civic duties.
“I was refreshed with hope when I found politicians that revived the international community’s conscience and gave a voice to the oppressed, the frustrated and the marginalized in this world,” he said.
Asking them to take these lawmakers as role models, Rai called on Lebanon’s Christian politicians “to raise a prophetic voice and help our country exit the presidential void crisis.”
He stressed on electing a president as the only thing that would “guarantee Lebanon’s unity and the well-functioning of its constitutional institutions,” and called on politicians to prioritize public interest.
“[They should] confront economic, social and security challenges by alienating themselves from private interests and liberating themselves from the captivity of their stands,” he said. “And show courage by overcoming self-[interest] and launching initiatives that would lead to the election of a new president as soon as possible.”
Rai also announced he would be leaving with a delegation of Eastern patriarchs to the U.S. Monday, to participate in the “Defending the Middle East Christians” conference, where Christian figures and American decision makers will gather for 3-days in Washington D.C.
The Christian delegation will include Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Yo, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II and Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako.
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