Rome Newsroom, Feb 9, 2021 / 12:00 pm
Lebanon's Maronite patriarch called on Tuesday for the United Nations to help resolve the country's crisis by convening an international conference.
In a homily for the feast of St. Maron on Feb. 9, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, the leader of Lebanon's Maronite Catholics, said that the international community had a responsibility to help prevent Lebanon's collapse.
"Today we regret that as we celebrate the feast of St. Maron, the Lebanese are suffering torments and make sacrifices, while their country is busy with many small matters. Officials compete to obstruct internal solutions, which prompts us to look to the United Nations to help save Lebanon," Rai said.
The Maronite patriarch noted that the UN is not a regional or partisan group and could help foster a solution within the framework of Lebanon's unity, plurality, and system of neutrality.