Day of 'prayer and contemplation' starts at Beit Anya

A “day of prayer and contemplation” that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi had called for, started Wednesday at Beit Anya in Harissa.

Fifty-three Christian MPs attended the spiritual meeting, that aims at unifying and connecting the Christian blocs amid a severe presidential crisis.

The Free Patriotic Movement MPs, including their leader Jebran Bassil, and the Lebanese Forces MPs headed by MP Sethrida Geagea attended the meeting today.

"The FPM welcomes any initiative that harmonizes different viewpoints and we will attend today's meeting, as it is meant to break down barriers and to find common ground between different parties, especially between Christians," FPM MP Alain Aoun said.

In his sermon, al-Rahi asked the attendees and every "upright politician" what they have done to facilitate the election of a president and to revive the sate institutions.

Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term expired at the end of October and Christian MPs have failed to agree on a president's name.

Lawmakers have held 11 rounds of voting to name a successor to Aoun, but no candidate has garnered enough ballots.