Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Beshara Boutros Al-Rahi, regretted the “incident that took place two days ago in the town of Rmeish between armed elements affiliated with one of the parties and the people,” and called on “the security services to carry out their duty to protect and reassure our sons, so they feel that they belong to their state and are protected by Security Council Resolution 1701, which It prevents any armed forces from being present in their areas.”

He said in his Sunday sermon: “We cannot accept the closure of forming a new government’s file, as if the government is just a detail in the structure of the Lebanese system. What we fear is that if the political forces are unable to form, they will be unable to elect a president of the republic.”

Rai added: “What happened with Archbishop Moussa Al-Hajj constitutes a test of the ability of those responsible to put an end to the attack on the Maronite Church, and some complain about religion’s interference in the state, but today the state is attacking a founding sect.”