Al-Rahi, Jumblat Agree to Complete the Reconciliation in the Mountains and Close Wounds
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat agreed on Sunday to exert efforts to complete the reconciliation in the Mountains that the former head of the church started in 2001.
“I am committed with you to complete this reconciliation with a spirit of partnership and love,” al-Rahi told Jumblat during a meeting at the Druze chief's mansion in Mukhtara.
“I express my appreciation to your strong effort for the displaced to return to the Mountains,” he said on his second day of visit to the Shouf area.
Jumblat welcomed al-Rahi's effort to consolidate coexistence and said: “We concluded the reconciliation with his predecessor Patriarch Sfeir.”
“The wound of the area of Brih is left to be dealt with. It's essential,” he said.
Coexistence between Muslims and Christians is the essence of the reconciliation and gives it a greater role in protecting the Lebanese entity, the patriarch told the PSP chief in the presence of religious figures.
The Christians seek national unity through a civil state that respects all religions and aspire for freedoms and absolute loyalty to the nation, al-Rahi said.
“We seek through the goodwill of others to reach reconciliation on all Lebanese territories,” he said.
Al-Rahi also stressed that Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic exhortation is an opportunity to show the world the importance of Lebanon as a land of peace and dialogue among civilizations.
Earlier in the day, al-Rahi hoped that the apostolic exhortation would lead to a Christian Spring that in turn would generate a “true Arab Spring.”
“The apostolic exhortation should lead to a Christian and Lebanese Spring so that it incorporates modernized values and diversity to the Arab world through a true Arab Spring,” al-Rahi said in his sermon at St. Anthony's church in the Shouf town of al-Fuwwara.
Several officials attended the mass.
“We urge everyone to welcome the pope and participate in the celebrations” during his three-day visit on Friday, he said.
“The Christians can't forget their identity and that they have a message to spread in Lebanon and the Middle East,” al-Rahi reiterated.
He also called for changing the social status-quo into the better.
Benedict's visit to Lebanon next week is "considered an act of great courage and hope worldwide" as a civil war rages in neighboring Syria, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said Saturday.
Lebanon was selected for the Sept. 14-16 trip "before the situation in Syria escalated into an overt and bloody conflict," Lombardi wrote in an editorial for the Vatican weekly Octava Dies.
09 September 2012, 14:04
1010
I do hope that the false Christian known as Aoun will be ashamed of what he's been doing and will hide in cave during the Papal visit. Aoun is not Christian just like Bachar or Nasrallah are no Muslims... They the most dangerous people for Peace in the Middle East and the entire world.
09 September 2012, 18:43
15
Patriarch, in this instance, is serving the traditional national role of the Patriarchate. God willing, Rai continues his path of growth into the office to which he was elected as Maronite Patriarch.
09 September 2012, 19:03
85
Bring back the bells of the churches. We all need to unite and stand against the criminal activity or the Hezz, ASSad, and Iran destroying Lebanon and Syria.
09 September 2012, 20:00
01
What a great man this patriarch... We need his messages of love, of patriotism, of healing, in the face of all the hate and selfishness messages that Assad, Iran, Qatar, and wahabism are spreading on us.
09 September 2012, 21:25
53
Stop making your politicians and religious leaders all look like there heroes. There all a bunch of criminals and thieves that's only care about there bank account. I'm pretty sure march 8 and march 14 and and march 15 too are all a bunch of Freemasons that are just following orders from there hidden masters. Theres a shadow government which know ones sees or hears. It should come as a surprise they always have been and always will be slaves to there false god, the almighty dollar
09 September 2012, 23:14
00
This is nice. Christians and Druze coexisted in the Chouf Mountains for hundreds of years. Yet, they killed each other during the civil war. What are Rahi and Jumblatt doing to prevent this from ever happening again?
10 September 2012, 01:52
00
Reconciliation by Walid Jumblat might only happen in 2064 under Walid Jumblat the 23rd. Keep home alive.
10 September 2012, 03:55
62
Cal them whatever you want ashrafieh. But they whooped your asses Druze are the only sect in Lebanon who never killed palestinians. They helped the ottomans fight off the crusaders. I got no beef with them except the ones in Israeli army. A bunch of sellouts
10 September 2012, 16:21
01
Erase the slate? Patronizing and condescending hypocrite! This sanctimonious piece of heaping pile of cow dung from a guys who advocate the shooting of M14 in the head and dissolving them in acid. What a pity!
10 September 2012, 08:38
11
Well said firetruck,asharfieh the Druze will stab you right in your heart.I have done lots of reading about the Druze people and the last book I read the title was never fuck with the Druze,if you nice to them they give you flowers if you try to take their land or attack them then watch out.
10 September 2012, 10:09
11
Lebanon should be a land of peace. As long as Islam remains a militant religion and maintains killing is justified in sections in the Quran then there can never be real peace wherever they are. Any Muslim that disagrees is not a real Muslim. Just like any Christian that is a Freemason is not a real Christian. The pope banned Catholics from being masons ages ago for your information in the previous comment.
10 September 2012, 10:16
01
FT the Druze made mistakes ,but I like to ask you a question who came on the back of the Israeli army tanks in 1982 to kick the Druze out of the Shouf region ? who raped and killed Druze peolpe in the Sha7ar El8arbi,what I`m getting at is both Christians and Druze made huge mistakes and its good to see them living together now ..
10 September 2012, 16:22
41
Erase the slate? Patronizing and condescending hypocrite! This sanctimonious piece of heaping pile of cow dung from a guys who advocate the shooting of M14 in the head and dissolving them in acid. What a pity!
10 September 2012, 21:33
41
This sanctimonious BS from a person who advocates the shooting of M14 supporters in the head and dissolving them in acid. Go look in the mirror, if you still have an urge to spew your hate afterwards then put a sock in it. You are the No 1 hypocrite on this forum and you have pledged your allegiance to a man who is now allied with the same regime that humiliated him and chased him out of b3abda with his tail tucked between his legs, he is a coward and a denier that the regime he is bowing to, is holding Lebanese prisoners and denying it. If you had an ounce of morality and ethics you wouldn't even spew your filth here. I pity you and feel sorry for those who have to interact with you on a daily basis. You are warped and a decaying, soulless ghoul.
10 September 2012, 16:15
00
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Long live Israel and the USA.
10 September 2012, 16:23
20
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
11 September 2012, 16:03
00
God bless America for despite all its faults, it remains the beacon for freedom, the model to live up to and the envy of the entire world. If America falls, the world falls with it, if it stands, there is hope for all to defeat tyranny, oppression and subjugation.
02 October 2012, 17:46
00
This stupid translation
How about modernism and Globalization the Patriarch is talking about?
15 November 2012, 23:04
00
Ashrafleh you are sooo right druze are liars cowards and evil people they will stab u in the back so fast cause truth be told they do not accept anyone who is not druze
