Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros al-Rahi, presided over Sunday Mass service in Bkerki this morning.

In his sermon, Patriarch Rahi criticized those who wanted the army to oppress the citizens in the streets, saying: “The army is part of the people and we cannot force it to confront them. The army is the army of democracy, and no one has the right to turn it into an army of oppressive measures.”

Rahi added: “The army is the legitimate force entrusted with the responsibility to defend Lebanon, so it is not permissible to legislate or cover the presence of any illegal weapon alongside its own.”

Commenting on cutting off some roads, Rahi criticized these actions, urging the people of the revolution to “respect the right of citizens to move to meet their needs, and to avoid cutting public roads, and to replace them with organized demonstrations in public squares to express their legitimate demands, in accordance with the law and cultural principles.”

Rahi also appealed on protestors “to unify their ranks, the harmony of their demands, and the independence of their movement, so that their revolution will be promising and constructive.”
Finally, the Patriarch called on the political class in Lebanon to “rise above their personal interests and narrow calculations for the sake of the country and its people.”

Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros al-Rahi, presided over Sunday Mass service in Bkirki this morning.
In his sermon, Patriarch Al-Rahi criticized those who wanted the army to oppress the citizens in the streets, saying: “The army is part of the people and we cannot force it to confront them. The army is the army of democracy, and no one has the right to turn it into an army of oppressive measures.”
Rahi added: “The army is the legitimate force entrusted with the responsibility to defend Lebanon, so it is not permissible to legislate or cover the presence of any illegal weapon alongside its own.”

Commenting on cutting off some roads, Rahi urged “the people of the revolution to respect the right of citizens to move to meet their needs, and to avoid cutting public roads, and to replace them with organized demonstrations in public squares to express their legitimate demands, in accordance with the law and cultural principles.”
In this context, Rahi appealed on protestors “to unify their ranks, the harmony of their demands, and the independence of their movement, so that their revolution will be promising and constructive.”

Finally, the Patriarch called on the political class in Lebanon to “rise above their personal interests and narrow calculations for the sake of the country and its people.”
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros al-Rahi, presided over Sunday Mass service in Bkirki this morning.
In his sermon, Patriarch Al-Rahi criticized those who wanted the army to oppress the citizens in the streets, saying: “The army is part of the people and we cannot force it to confront them. The army is the army of democracy, and no one has the right to turn it into an army of oppressive measures.”

Rahi added: “The army is the legitimate force entrusted with the responsibility to defend Lebanon, so it is not permissible to legislate or cover the presence of any illegal weapon alongside its own.”

Commenting on cutting off some roads earlier this week, Rahi urged “the people of the revolution to respect the right of citizens to move to meet their needs, and to avoid cutting public roads, and to replace them with organized demonstrations in public squares to express their legitimate demands, in accordance with the law and cultural principles.”

In this context, Rahi appealed on protestors “to unify their ranks, the harmony of their demands, and the independence of their movement, so that their revolution will be promising and constructive.”

Finally, the Patriarch called on the political class in Lebanon to “rise above their personal interests and narrow calculations for the sake of the country and its people.”