Rahi Sets 3 Conditions as Catholic Patriarchs Head to Rome

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi called on politicians on Sunday to form an all-embracing government, hold the presidential elections on time and agree on a vote law as Catholic Patriarchs headed to Rome to meet with the pope.

“Lebanon's cause is our cause,” al-Rahi told reporters at Rafik Hariri International Airport before boarding his plane.

Politicians “should put their personal interests aside and work for the public good,” he said.

“It is not shameful for us in Lebanon to have ties with other countries, mainly regional states,” he said. “But it is shameful not to have a national will.”

Asked about a condition imposed by the March 14 alliance for the formation of the new cabinet, al-Rahi said: “There is a single essential condition, which is holding the presidential elections and resolving all the pending issues in the country.”

“All other conditions fade,” he said, adding “if everyone love Lebanon, its people, its role and characteristics, then they shouldn't put conditions on anything.”

The March 14 coalition has conditioned the formation of an all-embracing cabinet on the withdrawal of Hizbullah fighters from Syria.

Al-Rahi reiterated that the only conditions should be the formation of the government, the election of the president when Michel Suleiman's term ends in May next year and the approval of a new electoral law.

Al-Rahi, Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic church Ignatius Joseph III Younan and the head of the Armenian Catholic church, Nerses Bedros XIX, traveled to the Vatican to attend a meeting for the leaders of the Eastern churches in communion with Pope Francis.

The topic for discussion at the November 19-22 will be the Eastern churches in the 50 years since Vatican II.

The three patriarchs will also meet with former Pope Benedict XVI.

Both Younan and Bedros agreed with al-Rahi on the conditions he set, telling reporters at the airport that “the situation in Lebanon needs unity.”