The estates of the victims of the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut sued Standard Chartered seeking compensation over the bank’s concealment of Iran-linked transactions. The civil lawsuit, filed in U.S. district court in Manhattan, said the bombing victims obtained a $2.6 billion judgment in compensatory damages against Iran in 2007. The […]

  [Video] تنتشر عشيرة آل المقداد في مختلف المناطق اللبنانية فاضافة الى وجودهم في لاسا الجبيلية المعروفة بنزاعاتها العقارية ومقنة في بعلبك تجدهم في قرية فرون الجنوبية والمحمّرة العكارية وأميون الكورية . ولآل المقداد خلافات عديدة مع الاحزاب السياسية المهيمنة على الضاحية والتي يفضلون عليها تضامنهم العشائري. ويشكوآل المقداد غياب الدولة ولذلك عمدوا على انشاء […]

  President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday presided over a meeting with all the chiefs of the Lebanese security agencies, after al-Meqdad clan abducted more than 20 Syrians and a Turkish national in retaliation for the kidnap of one of its members by Syrian rebels in Damascus. Suleiman also held phone talks with Speaker Nabih Berri and […]

• By Fr Dwight Longenecker Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

GREENVILLE,SC (Catholic Online) – I am no economist and I have little patience with politics, but I do understand that my Catholic faith is opposed to both socialism and unrestrained capitalism. It is opposed to both because it is in favor of the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. These principles are easily understood as the proper need for community and government being balanced by being "in favor of the little guy and the homegrown solution". The Catholic faith is therefore in favor of community, but sees community as founded on personal freedom and personal responsibility. Therefore we distrust both big government and big business.

Catholic social teaching is a largely undiscovered treasure. It provides a sensible way of balance in fiercely partisan politics. A Catholic politician should work according to the principles of this social teaching. To do so is not to bring religion into politics, but to allow his beliefs to influence his decisions. We would expect this to be the case for any politician-that his personal ideals and beliefs should positively motivate his political decisions. In a speech at Georgetown, Ryan has said,

"The work I do as a Catholic holding office conforms to the social doctrine as best I can make of it," Ryan said. "What I have to say about the social doctrine of the Church is from the viewpoint of a Catholic in politics applying my understanding of the problems of the day." This article explains how Paul Ryan’s economic plans echo the Catholic principle of subsidiarity. What interests me most is why the principle of subsidiarity is a Catholic principle. It is Catholic because it is an outgrowth of the Catholic understanding of individual responsibility and freedom. These personal, social and political principles: (freedom and responsibility) are a direct outgrowth of Catholic theology and anthropology.

We believe that each human person is created in God’s image and are therefore created with free will. They have power to act. They are able not only to make choices, but to follow through and take action. This personal freedom is one of humanity’s greatest potentialities and strengths. Linked with personal freedom is personal responsibility. If I would have freedom I must exercise that freedom responsibly. I must be aware of the consequences of my decisions and actions. I must weight up the possible rewards and punishments that flow naturally from the exercise of my free will. I must weigh up how my decisions and actions influence other people and society in general.

The principle of freedom and responsibility are woven into the fabric of what it means to be human. Big Government and Big Business too often sap the individual of both freedom and responsibility. A big welfare state supports the individual-sapping him of personal freedom by making him reliant on a handout. As his personal freedom is drained, so is his need for personal responsibility. The entitlement culture prevails, and poverty is exacerbated rather than cured.

  President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday stressed that Lebanon can confront the repercussions of the turmoil in the region, but warned of the domestic threats. “The outer storm around us can be warded off, but the threat comes from the little despicable storms inside the country,” the president said during a tour of the Jbeil region. Suleiman […]

    ترأس البطريرك بشارة بطرس الراعي مساء اليوم قداس عيد انتقال السيدة العذراء في بازيليك سيدة الغسالة العجائبية في بلدة القبيات، يعاونه رئيس اساقفة ابرشية طرابلس المارونية المطران جورج بو جودة والنائب البطريركي العام المطران بولس صياح ولفيف من الكهنة. وحضر القداس وزير الداخلية مروان شربل والنواب هادي حبيش ورياض رحال ونضال طعمة والنائب […]

  Former minister and MP Michel Samaha was interrogated at the Military Tribunal on Monday over charges of forming a group to commit crimes in Lebanon. He was accompanied by his defense attorneys Malek al-Sayyed and Youssef Finianos and interrogated by First Military Investigation Judge Riyad Abou Ghaida. Sayyed said while taking a break from the nearly […]

  BEIRUT: Over the past 11 months, eight sophisticated digital virus strands have targeted computers across Lebanon. The viruses are surreptitiously infiltrating the operating systems, mining the computers’ data for account information and then sending the data to five command and control servers around the world. The attack – the most sophisticated virus ever to be […]

    سار البطريرك الماروني مار بشارة بطرس الراعي، بمناسية عيد انتقال السيدة العذراء، الى دير سيدة قنوبين يرافقه السفير البابوي في لبنان المونسينيور غبريال كاتشيا ونائبه العام المطران بولس صياح، راعي ابرشية قبرص المارونية المطران يوسف سويف، المونسينيور جوزيف البواري، الأمين العام للمدارس الكاثوليكية الاب بطرس عازار، امين سر البطريرك الخوري نبيه الترس، كاهن […]