Rai from Poland: Special relations tie Beirut to Warsaw

Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rai arrived on Tuesday to Poland in an official pastoral visit, accompanied by Bishop Boulos Sayah and attorney Walid Ghayad, upon the invitation of the Archbishop of Warsaw Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz who welcomed him at Warsaw airport with the Lebanese ambassador to Poland Michel Katra and Consul Sofia Abou Azar, as well as a number of priests from Warsaw.                    

In this context, Rai praised the special historical relations between Lebanon and Poland, noting that the “Polish nationals in Lebanon and the Lebanese nationals in Poland always feel at home”.                  

On the other hand, Rai visited the Metropolitan Higher Seminary in Warsaw, where he met with students and delivered a speech whereby he tackled the role of the Maronite church in the Middle East, and discussed Lebanon’s democratic and civil system "which respects all confessions and protects the freedom of religion and expression as well as coexistence between the Christians and the Muslims."