The Metropolitan of Beirut and its Greek Orthodox Dependencies, Archbishop Elias Aoude, presided over the Divine Liturgy for the comfort of the victims of the Beirut Port explosion at St. Nicholas Church in Ashrafieh.

After the Gospel, he said in his sermon: “The specter of death still hangs over Beirut, and we are still living in a deadly mystery. A year has passed since the explosion of the port, and the truth has not been revealed, and those concerned have not reached an answer. Is it a coincidence or a deliberate act to prevent the truth from appearing?”

Odeh continued: “Is the appearance of the official before the judge so difficult, so how can he face the people while they are violating their most basic duties, and if they had nothing to fear, would they have hesitated for a moment? It is shameful for a person to be negligent and blind to his duty.”

Odeh declared, “Our hope is that the investigator will pursue his work with integrity, honesty and courage, and that efforts will be combined to help him clarify the truth, and that every judge will remember that he is the voice of justice and conscience.”

Odeh also indicated that in the event that “the Lebanese judiciary does not reach the word of justice in the name of the Lebanese people for the reason of political interference and obstruction of the investigation, we encourage the people to request with them the establishment of an international investigation committee to look into the most heinous crime that has occurred in this era.”