Al-Rahi Rejects Violence, Urges Reconciliation during Mass Boycotted by March 14
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi rejected on Sunday any form of violence in Lebanon and elsewhere and called for “sustainable reconciliation” among the Lebanese.
In his sermon on the occasion of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the first anniversary of his election, al-Rahi said: “Based on our Christian culture we reject and condemn any violence committed on our territories or anywhere else.”
“We also reject any incitement to violence,” he stressed.
Al-Rahi added that division and political and religious differences are rejected by the Maronite church.
Furthermore, the patriarch considered any attack on human beings or their dignity as an assault on God who alone gives and takes life.
He urged the Lebanese to overcome their differences and “achieve sustainable reconciliation among the different factions.”
The mass in Bkirki was attended by current and former officials, including Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, several members of his Change and Reform parliamentary bloc and Energy Minister Jebran Bassil.
But March 14 opposition officials and mainly Lebanese Forces lawmakers boycotted the mass.
Asked about the boycott, Aoun refused to comment, saying “This is a political issue. I came here to congratulate (al-Rahi) on the feast.”
The patriarch has come under severe criticism by the LF, whose leader Samir Geagea accused him of defending the Syrian regime and endangering Christians in the region.
Aoun held closed-door talks with al-Rahi after the mass.
25 March 2012, 11:39
316
bla bla bla and more bla bla bla then more and more bla bla bla
26 March 2012, 10:31
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He was not received by the Azhar; he was not received by the U.S administration; He is not welcome in Saudi Arabia..... is that what we want for Bkirki? His views that he uttered at the door of the Elysee' were enough to "disgust" many people! He is afraid the sunnis in syria will "gang" up with the sunnis of lebanon and the christians will be sidelined....!!! Yet, he is happy to be under a different alliance: that of the shias allied with the alawis in syria? Is that a religious man talking? I guess not...... Stick to religion and keep your nose clean.... WE are a minority in this east, and it is not to our advantage to support a tyrant and a butcher! Let the people of Syria decide what regime they want, and please don't get us involved in it!
26 March 2012, 16:21
26
go and try to keep your so called government alive first then come and discuss christian matters. you have no say on this subject :)
anyway, you can see the ground crumbling under your feet, and your coalition of thieves and thuga is falling :)
25 March 2012, 11:55
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That's why clerics from all sides should stay away from politics. We'd be much better without Khamenei and co. However, we must respect al Rahi at all costs. It wasn't Aoun whom elected him but a council of high priests.
25 March 2012, 18:40
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he never talked about small size politics but about general ideas that are vital for the maronites of whom he is responsible. Anyway thank you for the respect
25 March 2012, 18:41
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Slash if ur going to insult the church and the christian religious leaders please remove Cheikh Bashir pic from ur profile you are giving a very eronous idea about him. and BTW only some 14 March doesn't respect him which is less then 30% of all maronites so he's ok ;)
25 March 2012, 12:48
22
wlok bet2arfou bi 7akyetkon w te3li2atkon...kelkon sawa...
ma 7ada bya3ref yo2ra menkon wkel wa7ad bishouf ghalat ghairo bass...chouf aghlatak awal chi w ba3den 2ente2ed ghairak...slash enta bta3ref enno 90% men el massi7iyi elli metou bel 7arb ,el kate2eb wel 2ouwet atalouhon...????akid ma bta3ref iza ma betfi2 eala iyem el 7arb aw li2annak 7ezbi wa3ma ma betchouf...!!!metel kel el 7ezbiyine bi lebnen 3emiyen...shame...for that reason, aLL OF YOU MUST LISTEN FOR WHAT THE PATRIARCH IS SAYING AND KHEDOU 3EBAR...LA LEL 3ONF AND LA LEL WEAPONS...YES FOR PEACEFULL AND FREEDOM !
25 March 2012, 13:38
235
oh, look, the campaign against patriarch is slowing down. a year ago it's was 2 pages of comments against than fresh patriarch but now only 5 of them.
the zionist media terrorists are giving up on that subject just like they gave up on STL subject and syria "uprising" subject
also, it's cute to see how they agree even when they disagree.
that's because yesters one of them disagreed of something and was removed instantly.
25 March 2012, 13:54
01
patriarch Rai... at least declare boldly your conviction that Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace and that He and His Kingdom are the only answer in this world. condemning violence and wishing for world peace are sweet sounding yet powerless words. Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation.
25 March 2012, 14:15
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any disunity between the christians is a weakness for lebanon b4 the christian sect,rahi is endangering the whole christian community in lebanon and syria.
if we remember pope pie 12,the catholic church is still enduring from his weak stand against hitler... rahi has no experience and for sure dont study history
25 March 2012, 14:18
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I am a Maronite, but I am also disgusted with my Patriarch. How he can defend and NOT condemn Bashar Assad for killing 9,000 people is beyond me. I cannot understand that, at all. He should be replaced as our Maronite Patriarch. I am not the only one who feels this way towards him. He truly ought to be ashamed of himself. He should resign.
25 March 2012, 15:22
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We should bring back Nasrallah, the good one, not the Iranian of course!
25 March 2012, 18:45
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yeaaah he's from kesrwan just like me! but the poor guy made too much mistakes and now Vatican sent him on an early retirement, oh well we tried to worn him now it's too late
25 March 2012, 18:21
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FlameThrower: When this is all over, we will see who the REAL idiot is, you clown, and it won't be me...
25 March 2012, 18:43
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till now no one knows who killed 9000 people, is it Al qaeda is Bashar ... plus he condemned violence form both parts, or do you want him to criticize on Geagea demand ??
25 March 2012, 20:15
37
It is not just the 9000 in Syria, it is the hundreds of thousands in Lebanon also. The whole Lebanese civil war was planned, nurtured and executed by the Assad clan in collaboration with Israel to weaken and destroy Lebanon then give it to Syria on a silver plate. Bahsar was not as smart and he could not hold on to it like his shrewd father. Not only they cut a limb, not only the cut a whole Cedar tree, they set the whole Cedar forest on fire and we will continue to pay the price of their deeds for decades to come.
25 March 2012, 15:50
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Dr Geagea,Bkirki,and Rafik Hariri are the reason Leabanese people have freedom of speech today.A large number of Lebanese paid a heavy price for these privileges we take for granted.The brave and resilient Syrian opposition movement have decided to sacrifice there lives for freedom of speech and the ability to live in dignity and no one in the world can take that away from them,even our patriarch .Dr Geagea,you are a patriotic leader who leads by example,you are a shining light on the hill,you are the only one that keeps the dream alive for many and you have succeeded against all the odds.Lebanon needs more people with your qualities I salute you Dr Geagea and I pray that our patriarch may stumble across some common sense.
26 March 2012, 09:52
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first of all Mr.geagea was never a Dr so stop calling him so, 2nd Rafic Harriri was Syria nbr 1 man (might I remind u that he was PM amid 7august) also when Geagea says "falyahkum el 2khwan" and attacks Bkerkeh and The Lebanese Army, he's evrything but a patriot, he's simply doing the salafis agenda becaus Harriri promised him on twitter to make him president (he just forgot that he was on twitter and that he will probably be the farmville president) heheehe
25 March 2012, 17:20
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He never said that he supports Bachar. Your hypocrite leader (Geagea) said it and as clever as you are, you beleived him blindly!
25 March 2012, 17:23
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Geagea said that the Patriarch is a spiritual leader but he doesn't agree with his political views. that's fine.
But the mass is a religious event, so why boycott it ?
25 March 2012, 18:38
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you shoul read other sites the Future and Jazira. he never supported assad regime he said it needed reform and by the way violence is from both side, I don;t think the free syrian army is fighting with roses
25 March 2012, 20:06
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But in Lebanon violence has been from one side for the last 6 years and he still supports that side. At the very least he should be neutral.
25 March 2012, 18:43
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Al-Rahi never defended the Syrian regime, he only asked for stability and a peaceful solution. Both sides in Syria are violating human rights. Just because Rahi didn't support the opposition explicitly doesn't mean he's supporting Assad. He's taking a reasonable approach to the crisis. Stability is key for a prosperous country.
25 March 2012, 18:49
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ohhh so the 14 March people boycotted a Mass (exept for the Kataeb I'm loving those guys more and more they should join us already!!)according to the last elections M14, Bkerkeh and the independant had 47% of the Christians, so if bkerkeh and the independant represents 20% of the christians this leaves about 27% for 14 march, take out 10% for the kataeb, we're left with 17%, It's less then those who couldn't make it because of the flu so the PATRIARCHE is ok
25 March 2012, 19:05
232
To all those who dont like the Patriarch,
Why? Is it because he calls for peace for all?
You tend on forgeting something, he is the Patriarch of Antioch not just Lebanon. So he is the patriarch for those christians in Syria who are also being threatened by the CIA and AlQaida backed muslim brotherhood (also known as the syrian national council)... you have your facts all mixed up. The patriarch is acting in the interests of both Lebanese and Syrians when he asks for peace by backing up Assad. ... remember he dosent like assad but he confirms that assad is better then radical syrian council!
25 March 2012, 20:17
253
Cedar, those against the batrak are the same people and parties that were against the Lebanese army in the 60s and 70s and 80s. They are the same people that scream their anti Syrian sentiments in 2005 but were the biggest supporters and benifactors of Syrian occupation of Lebanon from 1990. They are the same people that will most proberbly want Syria and lebanon to be united when a "opposition" comes to power. And then there is geagea and his remaining post anti batrak, supporters.
26 March 2012, 03:53
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hmmmm..... don't understand what you mean, you sectarian aouni? elaborate.....
25 March 2012, 22:24
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It's always fun to see the "resistance" and their supporters backing Bashar al-Giraffe. They do so for two reasons mainly:
1) They are sectarian-minded and the idea of Shi'ites (including their off-shoots) and Christians losing prominence in a potentially democratic Syria scares the hell out of them. Proof? Just look how they support the uprising in Bahrain, yet not the one in Syria - even though both uprisings have the same dynamics (a majority being ruled by a brutal minority).
2) They claim Bashar as the anti-Israeli warrior. Please. Remember whose party handed us the Golan on a silver platter in 1974? And remember when we bombed Deir Ezzor in 2008 and Bashar pretended like nothing happened? He's so power hungry that he wouldn't risk a confrontation with us. We want him to stay, and we're happy the resistance is doing the propaganda for us without even realizing it. Thank you, "resistance" bloc!
26 March 2012, 05:43
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BAHAHAHHAHA - your funny.
Let me make one thing clear for u israelconspiracy:
I would be happy too see The Sunni and the Shiite kill each other.
and for your information - there are more Lebanese Christians then there are Muslims. Whether they live inside lebanon or not is a different story - and the main issue is the government allowing international voting just like all other countries do! then see who wins in Lebanon!!!
26 March 2012, 12:01
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Divide et impera. Good try conspirator but it's useless. Smalla, Sharon and natanyahu are good a match to any Arab dictators although they were elected. So did Bashar. You have the same issues as we have, you live in a racist society... With many classes of citizens, ashkenazis at the top... Sefarades and Mizrahim at the bottom. (what about Ethiopian Jews and Arab Israelis even lower !) your country is corrupt... And apartments in tel-aviv cost a million dollars... Now we got the whole picture, you stole land to make profit.... Not even by charity towards your co-religionaries. Nice picture indeed!
26 March 2012, 12:07
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Mon Cher voisin. Vous prêchez chez des convaincus. Allez prêcher sur al-manar!
26 March 2012, 13:55
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mowatn: On peut être en désaccord sans s'insulter, non? Voilà ce qui distingue les 14 marsisites des autres terroristes...
26 March 2012, 15:46
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benzon en Francais, bravo mon cher, mais fraterniser avec l'ennemi c pousser le bouchon un peu trop loin, tu ne trouves pas?
26 March 2012, 20:49
00
Eh bien, vous n'êtes pas très perspicaces. Je suis navré de constater que vous ne percevez pas le sarcasme à des kilomètres à la ronde. Et puis, 'fraterniser' comme vous le dites est tellement démesuré. Je partage les convictions sur le Liban qui est complètement dépassé, obsolète, corrompu et plus grave encore que c'est l'iran et la Syrie qui sont par intérêts les alliés silencieux de l'Etat sioniste. La mesquinerie de l'intervenant israélien est d'autant plus douloureuse qu'elle est fondée!!!!!
