President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, affirmed that Lebanon “will be able to overcome the difficult circumstances it is currently experiencing at various levels, because events have proven that the Lebanese willingness and love of life has always helped them overcome many difficulties in the past,” emphasizing Lebanon’s bet on the young generation in building the country’s future.

President Aoun emphasized that “nothing should disappoint the Lebanese, regardless of the severity of what they are facing,” promising to “make all efforts to come out of the recurrent crises they are facing.”

President Aoun’s remarks came during a meeting with a delegation from Notre Dame University, led by the University’s New President, Father Bechara El Khoury, and including the Vice President for Administrative and Financial Affairs, Abbot Samaan Abu Abdo, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Elie Badr, and the Director of the Barsa branch, Father Fr. Samaan Abu Abdo. The delegation also included Roni Farra, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Former Minister Ziad Baroud, a member of the Executive Board, and Mrs. Mona Kanaan, Secretary.

The President of the University, Father Bechara El-Khoury, opened the meeting by thanking the President of the Republic for sending the General Director of the Presidency to represent him at the ceremony of assuming the Presidency of the University, as well as for the support he has shown and continues to show to the University. “The collaboration between President Aoun and the university is not a new initiative,” he said, adding that “NDU aims at bringing together Lebanese of various sects and sectarian affiliations.”

President Aoun

President Aoun welcomed the delegation, complimenting NDU’s ideals “in its education of Lebanese generations, which we are seeking to complete intellectually.” As a result, we took the initiative and gained international recognition for the “Human Academy for Encounter and Dialogue,” which is open to people of all faiths and civilizations.

“What we saw in terms of health incidents and other challenges caused a delay in the Academy’s work,” President Aoun stated, “but today, with the 167 countries out of 169 that voted in favor of accrediting Lebanon as a center for this academy, we are returning momentum to this issue.”

He emphasized the University’s major role, predicting that it will “continue to play this role in the future, because its success is a success for Lebanon.” “Focus on the need of combining science and religion in improving the conditions of human contact,” he said, “in order to oppose attempts to take religions to destinations that do not reflect their values and principles.”

The President of the Republic addressed the issue of civil rule, stating that it “cannot be established except through the unification of laws, the most important of which is the Personal Status Law, because it guarantees equality for all, and it necessitates the cooperation of all Lebanese parties and the collection of various ideas.”