Patriarch Maronite Bechara Al-Rahi presided over the Palm Sunday Mass at the altar in the outdoor church of the Patriarchal Monument in Bkerke. In his sermon, Al-Rahi emphasized that "we do not forget the children of Gaza subjected to clear acts of extermination in hospitals, on the escape routes, and standing in lines to request their share of food, suffering from hunger and the lack of medicine. This also applies to the men, women, and youth, while the world remains silent out of fear for its interests. Oh, what a disgrace on the forehead of this generation of rulers."
He added: "The catastrophe of families and children in the war between Russia and Ukraine is compounded. Moreover, painful is the massacre apparently committed by ISIS with armed elements behind them, as they stormed a music hall in the outskirts of Moscow on Friday evening, opened fire on attendees, and then a fire broke out inside. The death toll, according to today’s statistics, reached 143 dead, with many injured. We express our condolences to the families of the victims and the Russian authorities, and we hope that the Russian embassy in Beirut conveys our condolences and affirms our closeness to them and our prayers, asking God to accept our prayers for the repose of the victims’ souls and the healing of the wounded, and to put an end to the destructive war between Russia and Ukraine with a just and lasting peace."
Al-Rahi observed that "in Lebanon we recite the Palm Sunday psalm: 'Grant us salvation and victory, O Lord' (Ps 118: 25). We seek salvation from our increasing sins, for which there is no repentance, having accumulated to the point that we now live in a structure of sin against God, against the sanctity of the self, and against people. We mean spiritual sin, moral sin, social sin, and political sin that has reached its peak with corruption."
