Maronite Patriarch Beshara Boutros Rai said that it is unacceptable that one third of the Lebanese people live under the poverty line.
“What international conscience accepts that 58% of the Syrian refugee families live in extreme poverty?” he asked, regretting the failure of the international community to fulfill its commitments.
In his Christmas message from Bkerke, Rai noted that the private schools, specifically the Catholic schools are concerned with preserving the rights of the teachers while lessening the burden imposed on the students’ parents; calling on the state to cover the salary raise resulting from the pay scale.
He also stated that the Lebanese people fear an authoritarian schism towards a patterns restricting freedom of press for political purposes, stressing the need to abstain from politicizing the judiciary.