Beirut: Patriarch Poor Boutros al-Rahi has expressed the church’s growing dismay at the arrest of a senior Lebanese Maronite religious leader.
“This move deliberately attacks the Maronite patriarchy and its powers,” al-Rahi told a crowd of protesters gathered in the church courtyard at the patriarch’s residence in Dimane on Sunday.
Bishop Musa al-Hajj, Archbishop of the Maronite Archdiocese of Haifa and Patriarchal Vicar for the territories of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan, was arrested at the Al-Nakoura crossing between Lebanon and Israel after his visit. Parish in the Holy Territories.
According to the judicial decision, Bishop al-Hajj faced lengthy interrogation by the General Security Service.
Medicines, aid and money received from Lebanese who fled to Israel 22 years ago to give to their families in Lebanon were confiscated.
He was also subject to a travel ban and was sent to military court.
Al-Rahi affirmed that “what Bishop Musa al-Hajj faced is a violation of the dignity of the Church.”
Al-Rahi said that he was not allowed to prosecute a bishop without mentioning his authority, which is the patriarch.
“We reject these actions with political implications and we demand that the confiscated possessions of the bishop, including his passport, mobile phone, aid, money and medicines, be returned to him, as the Holy Occupied Lands The Lebanese entrusted him to give this aid. Their families in Lebanon are of all denominations,” he said.
“This is what Maronite bishops used to do for years in the past and what they should do in the future as well.”
Addressing “those harming Lebanon”, al-Rahi also said: “Stop saying that the aid was coming from agents and look for these agents elsewhere. You know where and who they are “
Al-Rahi said that Bishop al-Hajj “maintains a Christian, Palestinian and Arab presence inside Israel and deserves praise and support rather than attacking its dignity and honorable message.”
He also stated that the Maronite presence in Palestine dates back to the early times of the emergence of the people of St. Maroon.
Al-Rahi said that the Maronites played an important role there which is admired by people of other denominations.
“The major ruling party is trying to turn Bishop al-Hajj into a mere baseless judicial case for a targeted political attack and violation of the dignity of the Church and its representatives in order to hide its guilt and add disjointed explanations and interpretations, ” They said. Told,
“If there’s a law that prevents anyone from bringing humanitarian aid into the country, let them show it to us.”
“The time has come for us to change the reality filled with hatred and hostility.”
Al-Rai said that Lebanon “cannot be built, progressed and integrated through an approach that does not reflect the values of its people and history.”
“Those who enforce these policies and create these files should learn from their predecessors and the experiences that prove that bad guys cannot be part of Lebanon’s honorable history.”
In his sermon, the Maronite patriarch called for “the formation of a new government as soon as possible and the election of a new president within the constitutional time frame”.
Applause was heard in the halls of the church, when the patriarch spoke of the need to elect a new president, and when he said: “Go and look for these agents elsewhere. You know where they are and who they are.”
Al-Rahi said that the laws state that no bishop or priest should be prosecuted without the permission of the patriarch. “What happened is an attack and insult to the Maronite patriarchy and me personally.”
Former Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar argued that “Lebanon has already signed Code 1060 issued by the Eastern Churches, determining that only the Roman Pontiff has the right to prosecute bishops in criminal cases. Therefore, any citizen or military authority has no authority to prosecute any bishop in criminal cases.”
Hezbollah on Saturday further angered the Christian community with statements made by the head of its parliamentary faction, Mohamed Ra’ad, and prompted increased opposition from the Maronite patriarch.
He said: “It is national treason and a crime to collude with the enemy. An agent does not represent his denomination. But when the agent is punished, he becomes the representative of the whole sect that comes together to protect him. What is this conflict?”
Commenting on al-Rahi’s remarks, MP Nadeem Gemayel said: “It seems that colluding with the enemy has become an approach. Doesn’t this also apply to those who publicly express their devotion to Iran and drag Lebanon into conflicts that only serve the Iranian project?”
“Doesn’t this apply to people who smuggled flour and diesel into Syria?”
Patriarch al-Rahi maintains the neutrality of Lebanon, a concept rejected by Hezbollah and its allies.
Al-Hajj’s detention reached its climax after al-Rahi stressed the need for a neutral president for Lebanon.
A source in the Maronite Patriarchate said the message was received after the detention and interrogation of Bishop al-Hajj.
However, in a statement issued by its bishops, the patriarch said it had two demands – the return of the confiscated items to Bishop al-Hajj and the dismissal of Fadi Aqiqi, the interim government commissioner of the military court, on whose orders Bishop al-Hajj Hajj was interrogated.
Aqiqi is close to Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Beri, an ally of Hezbollah.
The number of Lebanese who fled to Israel in 2000 during the occupation of southern Lebanon is estimated at 6,000 individuals.
Dozens of them returned to Lebanon in later years after being tried, while hundreds of them emigrated to the US and European countries where they now live.
About 3,000 Lebanese citizens remained in Israel.
Christian protest was not limited to the Maronite Church.
“Any criminal, thief and law breaker should be held accountable and punished. However, what happened to Bishop al-Hajj is unacceptable and shows that there is a new security and judicial approach that is leading to serious repercussions across the country,” Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Archbishop Elias Aude of Beirut said in his Sunday Said in the sermon.
“This is a dangerous and unacceptable thing and we hope it will not happen again.”
Oude said that if the detention of Bishop al-Hajj is “a message to silence the Church, we say that the Church cannot be intimidated. He only fears his God, and of conscience and duty.” Hears the voice.”