The Shepherd: Officials are Committing a Crime Against the Presidency and the People

The Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, in his Christmas message, stated, "We carry in our prayers our people in the South, who are suffering from a war imposed on them and that no one among us wants." He condemned "the brutal extermination war in Gaza," urging the United Nations and the Security Council to stop "the war for the sake of innocent civilians, because in war, everyone loses." He added, "How much our officials need the light of God's word to enlighten their consciences, so that they may emerge from the darkness of their personal interests and lead the country out of the tunnel of presidential void at the most critical phase in Lebanon's history." Rai addressed the members of the nation, saying: "You are committing a crime against the presidency and constitutional institutions and the Lebanese people, as you tie the election of the president to an individual, a project, or a hidden objective; the victim is the state in its entity and the people in their rights."