Al-Rahi Arrives in Cairo on a Four-Day Pastoral Visit

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi arrived on Saturday in Egypt on a four-day pastoral visit that will also include talks with Egyptian officials and clergymen.

“The latest developments in Egypt had postponed our visit, but I insisted on traveling during this critical situation to express solidarity with the Egyptian people,” al-Rahi said from the Saint Joseph Cathedral.

He hoped that the “world would live in peace and unity… and the Arab world would live in dignity, tranquility and democracy.”

Al-Rahi held a meeting with former Arab League Chief Amro Moussa at archbishopric.

Earlier, the Patriarch told reporters at Rafik Hariri International Airport before heading to Cairo that a meeting with the grand imam of al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb, is not on his agenda.

“If we were able to meet him, then that will be good,” he said.

“I will meet with the Coptic and Catholic patriarchs, the Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria as well as the Lebanese community there,” he added.

His visit comes amid a dispute between him and the Lebanese Forces that reiterated on Saturday the party’s decision to object any harmful statement made by al-Rahi.

LF MP George Adwan told al-Liwaa newspaper that the LF changed its approach in dealing with the patriarch’s stances on Hizbullah’s arms and the events in Syria.

“We will have a clear stance on any position that doesn’t match Bkirki’s principles,” he stressed.

Asked about the latest campaign launched against him by the LF, the patriarch hinted to the reporters that his “humility” forces him to accept and not to reply to any criticism.

But earlier in the week, al-Rahi accused LF chief Samir Geagea of allegedly misinterpreting his statements on the developments in Syria.

The patriarch has on several occasions announced his concerns over the Christians in the region amid the ongoing crises and expressed fears that the violence in the Arab world could turn the Arab Spring into an Arab winter.