Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Rai said on Tuesday that "with great sorrow, he received, like all loyal Lebanese, the tragedy of the kidnapping and assassination of dear Pascal Sleiman, the coordinator of the Lebanese Forces party in the district of Jbeil, in less than 24 hours (from Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon)." In a statement of condolences, Rai said, "we all hoped he would be alive, and that's what was initially said. But the bitter truth was otherwise." He added, "In this critical and politically, security-wise, and socially tense situation, we call for restraint and self-control, demanding that the judiciary and security forces do their duty and impose the harshest penalties on the criminals. We ask the media, gratefully, not to release misleading interpretations and not to inflame the fire of sedition. His grieving wife set a great example for the Lebanese people with her reaction: 'We are children of resurrection, children of hope.' She did not utter words of revenge or killing. May God protect Lebanon and its people from the wicked."