Communiqué 14 October 2009
Communiqué
On 14 October 2009, Their Excellencies the Maronite Bishops held at Bkerkeh their monthly meeting, which was presided over by His Beatitude and Eminence Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir. At the end of the meeting, they issued the following communique:
1- The Fathers thanked His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for announcing a special session of the Bishop Synod about «the Oriental Churches and Christian presence in the East». They call upon the faithful to pray for the success of this session.
2- The Fathers welcome His Excellency the new Nuncio, Bishop Gabriele Caccia who is excepted in Lebanon on 16 October 2009, to succeed His Excellency Bishop Luigi Gatty. They wish him success in his mission.
3- The Fathers reviewed the present situation in Lebanon. They expressed their sorrow for the delay in forming the Government after trying for more than three months to form it. Meanwhile people’s interests are deferred and no one to run their affairs. This vacuum in the Government hits, specially, the poor class which are complaining about their need. Nobody to care for them and ward hunger off from them.
4- Governments are formed, in the World countries, to serve the homeland and secure the citizens interests. But, in Lebanon, it seems that people’s interests are while deferred and nobody to care for them, while many politicians direct their attention towards achieving their personal aims and private interests.
5- Since the beginning of the seventies, more than one million Lebanese, from all communities, emigrated from Lebanon. Isn’t it high time that we all think of the destiny of the up-coming generations of Lebanese, so that we don’t push them to leave their homeland and exchange it for other homelands.
6- Allegiance to the homeland does not suffer any allegiance to another one, it is, thus, necessary that the Lebanese bear allegiance to their homeland and to one else, be they near or far.
7- In this month, designated to honor our mother and lady the Virgin Mary, Queen of the holy Rosary, and to pray for the missions, we ask God, with her intercession, to bless the efforts of the missionaries and help us keep this homeland the land of the Message and Encounter between all spiritual families.
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