Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi visited Mount Lebanon on Sunday where he marked the 15th anniversary of the mountain reconciliation between the Christians and Druze and to inaugurate a church in the Shouf town of al-Moukhtara.
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan received the Patriarch in the presence of former President Amin Gemayel, Michel Suleiman, former minister Walid Daouk representing ex-PM Najib Miqati, Papal Ambassador to Lebanon Gabriel Caccia, MP Ali Fayyad, Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji and a number of bishops and priests.
Rahi headed a mass at the al-Saydeh Church in Moukhtara where he marked the anniversary.
He said: “On this occasion we are all committed, each from his own position, to continue this conciliation and provide it with the spiritual, economic and social frameworks to protect the mountain area.”
He highlighted the necessity to primarily elect a president before addressing other pending issues in the country, he said: “What is the point of addressing issues before electing a head of state.”