BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman warned Friday against adopting “unconstitutional” electoral plans that deepen sectarian divisions in the country, in what appeared to be a veiled rejection of the Orthodox Gathering’s controversial proposal. Also Friday, Prime Minister Najib Mikati signaled that the government would have to call for the legislative elections, scheduled on June 9, to […]

  ارشاد رسولي جديد اطلقه البابا بينيديكتوس السادس عشر من لبنان حول الكنيسة في الشرق الاوسط في ايلول 2012. هكذا وضع قداسة البابا الاصبع على الجرح النازف من خلال مضامين الارشاد الرسولي ومحاوره الاساسية التي نتناول منها موضوع العلمانية الايجابية. جاء في الارشاد في الفقرة 29: "يختبر الشرق الاوسط، كباقي انحاء العالم، واقِعَين متضارِبَين: العلمانية، […]

  BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman accused the country’s political parties Wednesday of seeking to extend Parliament’s mandate by failing to agree on a new electoral law for this year’s polls, but he vowed to prevent such a scheme from succeeding.   The president’s rare diatribe against the rival factions came during a Cabinet meeting he […]

    A lawyer filed a criminal complaint against the Saudi al-Watan newspaper on Wednesday for publishing a caricature criticizing Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s visit to Syria. Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said attorney Wadih Aql filed the complaint with the general prosecutor’s office against the newspaper’s publisher, its editor-in-chief and the caricaturist, Jihad Awrati.   […]

New oil reserves were found off Lebanon’s shore along it’s northern maritime boundary with Cyprus and Syria, which could generate billions of dollars. According to a report published by Beicip Franlab, a French consultant, there are around 440 million barrels of oil in the area and the quantity could reach 675 million barrels. Lebanon had […]

  As Pope Benedict XVI said on Monday that he would resign on Feb. 28, citing poor health, speculation is already mounting about his potential replacement. And Cardinal Peter Turkson, the current president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, is rumored to be a potential option. Here are five facts about the Vatican’s […]

On Behalf of the Maronite nation, I would like to thank our Holly Father Pope Benedict XVI. You gave the weak Maronite Nation strength and hope, with your visit and attention to the Lebanese Church. You strengthen the foundation of the Church through your leadership, teaching  and love.  As your last international trip, you chose […]

  The period between the death or resignation of a Pope and the election of his successor, when the See of Peter is vacant, is called the Interregnum. This Latin term means between the reign (of one Pope and another). It is a period governed by papal law, which admits of no changes to Church […]