Sfeir hopes for better days
Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir expressed hope on Sunday that Lebanon would witness “better days,” as he visited several churches during a tour of the Batroun region.
Sfeir had left his summer residence in the norther village of Diman to return to the seat of the Maronite church in the Levant, in the Kesrouan town of Bkirki. On his way back home, the Maronite Patriarch visited the Batroun region.
Speaking at the Saydet al-Intiqal church in the Batroun village of Tannourine, Sfeir said that while many issues did not please Christians, “we must try to improve them and be patient like our fathers, because you are not less courageous than they were.” He added: “We hope freedom is granted to you [in exchange] for your efforts and the efforts of those who you chose [as your representatives] in Parliament.”
Sfeir was accompanied on his Batroun trip by MPs Butros Harb, Antoine Zahra and Samer Saadeh. While the patriarch spoke of “difficult days ahead,” he stressed that “good will, dependence on God and determination, will remove all obstacles.” Earlier on Sunday, Sfeir said that the Christians in Lebanon did not claim political power, but rather “[recognized]the legitimate authority.”