His Beatitude John X visiting His Eminence…

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2024-09-03

 

“First, I extend all my love and prayers for health, long life, and blessed ministry to His Eminence, our dear and beloved Metropolitan Elias of Beirut. We all know how His Eminence struggles and deploys great effort for the good of the Church, our people, and Lebanon; he strives for the common good and humanity in general. I also address our Lebanese brothers and loved ones, telling them to stand firm and not be afraid, despite the harsh circumstances and difficult days. Our days are so hard in many ways, but Lebanon, our Lebanon, and yours are dear to our hearts. We must conserve it, and cling to our land, our families, and our homes. We must preserve this precious Lebanon, Lebanon as a message. At this point, we do not forget our sufferings, starting with the explosion of the port of Beirut and all the resulting disasters, all the way to our current situation and the circumstances that beset our people. They have been affected by the bank deposits issue, which was their life savings. Unfortunately in one way or another, everyone lost everything, all their life savings, as if this money was looted from the hands of our people and their efforts. Therefore, as we always say, we repeat aloud our call to all politicians, administrators, concerned parties, and officials in this country to regulate the work of the constitutional bodies and councils, especially the president of the republic. Hence the call for everyone to rise above personal interests and matters and to direct all forces as one hand towards the case of Lebanon, the concerns and interests of the Lebanese. This means first electing a president of the republic because every process of saving Lebanon and reform begins there. It is essential to elect a president for the republic because this vacancy is in no one's interest. Of course, we do not forget what is happening in the vicinity, in the region, and here I mention in particular what is happening in Gaza, in Palestine, and its repercussions on us and our people in the South. We lift our prayers and supplications so that the circle of war does not expand to other regions. We pray that peace returns, that wars stop in Gaza and all over the world and we do not forget anyone.

After a long discussion with His Eminence Elias, we emphasize as always in our Antiochian Church, that we are children of peace and seek peace. We want to find peaceful solutions to all our issues, starting from Lebanon and reaching all our regional problems, in the Middle East, and the Arab countries. We also went about discussing many church matters, the living conditions of our people, and the difficulties they are suffering nowadays. We tackled the material and financial situation surrounding us in these difficult circumstances. We always stress that the church works in full strength to support our children in general and our parishioners in particular, whether in their ecclesial, spiritual, humanitarian, or social matters. We support them in the areas of hospitalization, education, and others. Therefore, today, with great joy, as I am in this honorable Residencd, in our Archbishopric in Beirut, alongside His Eminence Elias, the pastor of this archdiocese protected by the grace of the Lord, we repeat this saying and emphasize these matters and the necessity of electing a president for the Lebanese Republic. Let us stand firm and not be afraid, and let us protect our families, our church, and Lebanon.