Bkerké – Food for half of the Lebanese population is at risk, while many young people are leaving the country to build less precarious lives elsewhere. Meanwhile, the political-institutional system is paralyzed and incapable of acting in the face of social and economic hardships that are crushing the nation. According to the Maronite patriarch Cardinal Béchara Boutros Rai at the beginning of the annual synodal assembly of the Maronite Church, this scenario is increasingly destructive.
The Ecclesial Assembly, hosted at the Maronite Patriarchal Seat in Bkerké, will last until Saturday, June 19th. A few days of spiritual retreat preceded it, during which the synod participants meditated and prayed together under the direction of the Rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, Father Fadi Tabet. In his address, the Maronite Patriarch Raï criticized the country’s political class as usual, referring to the “negligence” of the politicians who block the executive and the vital functions of the state apparatus. The Patriarch recalled, among other things, that the Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value, food and medical equipment are “monopolized by importers” and that even milk for young children “has disappeared from pharmacies”, while the salaries of public officials “no longer exceeds 30 dollars in value”.
About forty Bishops from Lebanon, Middle Eastern countries and the diaspora communities take part in the annual Synod of the Maronite Church, in Bkerké. On the agenda are ecclesiastical questions of the liturgy, the functioning of the seminaries and the formation of priests. During the days spent together, the participants of the Synod of the Maronite Church will also deal with the contents of the Lebanese summit convened by Pope Francis for July 1st in Rome, in order to discuss and reflect together with the main leaders of the Lebanese Christian communities, on the worrying situation of the country.
Source: Agenzia Fides
