by aawsat.com — Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al-Rai, stressed the importance of the country holding legislative elections next year as he delivered his Christmas sermon on Saturday. Al-Rai also called for the government to convene, saying that failing to do so sets a precedent that may hinder the function of future governments. Lebanon’s cabinet, which is focused on restarting talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unlock much-needed foreign aid, has not met since Oct. 12, due to a dispute over a probe into last year’s deadly Beirut port blast. “We support your commitment to holding the legislative elections,” said Al-Rai, directing his speech to President Michel Aoun who was attending the sermon. “The elections are the guarantee that presidential elections will be held on time and it is an opportunity for change.”

Parliament had voted for the legislative election to take place on March 27 but Aoun has said he would only sign a decree for them to take place in May. Al-Rai also offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the port blast which killed more than 200 people in August last year. “Our thoughts today are with the families of the port blast victims who are in pain because the judiciary is hindered and the fate of investigation is uncertain,” he said. The explosion was caused by a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely for years with the knowledge of top officials, but more than a year on, no one has been held accountable. Hezbollah and its allies have pushed to remove the lead investigator of the explosion, accusing him of political bias.

By NNA – President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, hoped, after a closed meeting with the Maronite Patriarch, Mar Beshara Boutros Al-Rahi, in Bkerki, before joining the Christmas morning mass, that the Lebanese would be back into better conditions, and refrained from making an address provided that he will talk to the Lebanese next Monday. For his part, Patriarch Al-Rahi hoped that President Aoun, with people of good will and good intentions who are loyal to Lebanon and its people, would find ways to liberate the state from being taken hostage, and the people from the oppressors.

The Patriarch stressed that the Lebanese people have the right to get out of their existential confusion, and the state to mobilize its institutions and rise from its collapsing reality that officials have brought over the years to this day by giving preference to their interests over the constitutional rights, calling to resume council of ministers sessions so that the matter does not turn into a precedent and restrict the work of governments. Patriarch Al-Rahi considered that monopolizing the fate of the Council of Ministers with a sectarian position constitutes a violation of the constitution, a violation of the Taif Agreement, and a distortion of the National Charter and the concept of consensus.

Patriarch Rahi told President Aoun: “You, Mr. President, have spent the most part of your life in defending Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence, which must be saved with new initiatives, including Lebanon’s neutrality. That is why we support you Mr. President, so that Lebanon regain its balance and its position in the world. We support you to lift the legitimate cover for anyone who harms the unity of the state and national partnership, the democratic system, the role of the Lebanese army and the work of the judiciary, and prevents the implementation of the constitution and international resolutions. We strongly support your commitment to holding parliamentary elections.”

Arrival and meeting:

President Aoun arrived at the patriarchal edifice around 9:10 am this morning, where he was received by Archbishops Hanna Alwan and Paul Sayah at the entrance. Then he was received at the entrance by Patriarch Al-Rahi and Bishops Peter Karam and Antoine Awkar, in addition to Bishops Sayah and Alwan. After taking memorial photos, President Aoun and Patriarch Al-Rahi moved to the patriarch’s office, where they held a closed meeting that lasted around half an hour, during which they discussed the latest developments, the crisis of the cabinet cease of meeting, and ways to address the financial and economic situation in the country. After the meeting, President Aoun left the patriarch’s office and went to the journalists who were present greeting them on Christmas occasion, wishing that God would bring back to the Lebanese goodness and better conditions.

The President of the Republic moved afterwords to the church, where he attended the Christmas mass, which was presided by Patriarch Al-Rahi and assisted by his general deputies. The mass was served by the choir of the Antonine Musical School led by Father Fadi Tawk. Attending to mass were Minister of Justice Henry Khoury, Papal Ambassador Monsignor Joseph Spiteri and MPs: Gibran Bassil, Roger Azar, Farid Bustani, Simon Abi Ramia, Cesar Abi Khalil, Farid Heikal Al-Khazen, former Minister Marwan Charbel, President of the Maronite League Neamatallah Abi Nasr, Director General of the Presidency of the Republic, Dr. Antoine Choucair, Police Commander, Brigadier Marwan Salilati, Director of Intelligence in the Army, Brigadier General Tony Kahwagi, Judge Jean Fahd, Director General of Civil Defense Brigadier Raymond Khattar, Ambassador Khalil Karam, senior civil, military and judges, and a crowd of believers.

Patriarch’s service:

After reading the Holy Gospel, Patriarch Al-Rahi gave a sermon welcoming President Aoun and the audience saying: “Today a savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

Mr. President,

1. By your generous initiative, you wanted to preserve the virtuous tradition of celebrating Christmas in the Church of the Patriarchal, to pray together and seek the grace of spiritual and national salvation, political, economic, social and living from the Divine Savior Jesus Christ, whose birthday we commemorate because Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This celebration, which annually brings together the Presidency of the Lebanese Republic and the Maronite Patriarchate, confirms that the mission and duty of these two signatories is one, which is to preserve Lebanon’s entity, independence, sovereignty, and identity, and to prevent it from being dissolved in any ideological, religious and geographical projects.

2. On behalf of my brothers, the metropolitans, the papal ambassador, the fathers, the dignitaries and this group of believers, I am pleased to congratulate you (Mr. president) on Eid, and through your Excellency the Lebanese people, I congratulate all those present, and all those who participate with us through social media. Best wishes to you and them all.

Our thoughts go to our Lebanese brothers who suffer poverty, hunger and deprivation of the simplest means of life such as food, medicine and warm from the harsh cold. We call upon the officials in the state to stop the crime of torturing and oppressing them, while political action aims to secure the common good from which is the good of all, and the development of the country. what good news are those who disrupt the country’s progress bringing to our people at the time of the great joy? Unfortunately, they have abused the oppressed the people and wrapped them in the guise of sadness and pain instead of the joy of Eid. We do not know their goals. We hope that you, Mr. President, with people of good will and good intentions who are loyal to Lebanon and its people, will be able to find ways to liberate the state from its obstructers and the people from the oppressors.

3. At the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ, the angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good hope to mankind” (Luke 2:14). Singing the glory of God because he restored to man the splendor of his humanity, so his glory was manifested in him, according to what Saint Irenaeus says: “The glory of God is the living man.” This is the new humanism that entered the world two thousand years ago. Let each person return to himself and see if the image and glory of God are manifested in him through his way of living, his actions, and his attitudes. The rule is truth, goodness and beauty that stems from God.

4. The angels sing “Peace on Earth.” Because if a person lives in peace with God and with himself, he will live in peace with all of creation.

5. And they sang “the good hope of mankind.” This hope gives meaning to human life. What people lack the most, whether they are rich or poor, are not only means of subsistence, but reasons for living, that is, hope, which gives meaning to their lives, strength for their steadfastness, and a confident outlook to the future.

6. Lebanese people should get out of their existential confusion, and the state should mobilize its institutions and rise from its collapsed that officials have brought it to over the years to this day by giving preference to their whims, interests and various loyalties over the interests of Lebanon and the people. From this standpoint, we call upon the government not to submit to political tyranny at the expense of the constitutional will. It is its duty to resume the council of ministers sessions so that the matter does not turn into a routine and restrict the work of governments, taking hostage the fate of the Council of Ministers with a sectarian position constitutes a violation of the constitution, a violation of the Taif Agreement, and a distortion of the National Pact and the concept of consensus. There is a big difference between consensus on national issues and the deliberate imposition of unilateral will on the constitutional institutions and on all the Lebanese. National responsibility imposes a separation between political interactions and the work of the Council of Ministers and the work of the judiciary and administrations in general.

7. The presence of a government without a cabinet meeting is a strange phenomena that permits singling out administrative decisions without the approval of the government as a whole. There are those who want to make people accustomed to the absence of the constitutional authorities and other institutions of the system in order to create another Lebanon that does not resemble it, its structures, its environment, its history or its civilization.

Mr. President, you have spent the best part of your life defending Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence, and it must be saved with new initiatives, including the adoption of Lebanon’s neutrality.

That is why we support you, Mr. President, in order for Lebanon to regain its balance and its position in the Arab world and among nations. We support you to lift the legitimate cover for anyone who harms the unity of the state and the national partnership, the democratic system, the role of the Lebanese army and the work of the judiciary, and prevents the implementation of the constitution and international resolutions. And You have sensed the extent of the damage that this existing reality has inflicted on your covenant, which you, upon your election, wanted, a covenant of reform, change, and consolidation of the prestige of the state. In this context, we strongly support your commitment to holding the parliamentary elections on the constitutional date. It is a sad reality that the government was absent, while the Secretary-General of the United Nations was visiting Lebanon, and at a time when the IMF was negotiating with us. And it is also a harmful reality that the UNIFIL are attacked in the south while the Secretary-General was visiting Lebanon.There is no doubt that this attack hurt you, Mr. President, because it appeared to be an attack on the state’s prestige and credibility as well.

8. We pray to the divine child, who became a human being to save us, asking that the memory of his birth be a true rebirth in the heart of every human being, making him a new creation, so that we would have a more humane society and a better homeland. So we sing with the angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good hope to the children of man”, now and forever. Christ is born, Hallelujah!” At the end of the mass, President Aoun left after congratulating Patriarch Al-Rahi and the Bishops. — Presidency Press Office