Patriarch Al-Rahi says: Lebanon in crisis as war devastates civilians and government institutions lack legitimacy

During Sunday mass, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi emphasized that the ongoing war is a war with 'deadly weapons' targeting innocent civilians.

Al-Rahi stated: "The war is killing civilians, children, and defenseless women. It is destroying homes and institutions, the cost of which cannot be measured, and leaving 1.5 million displaced people without shelter."

He pointed out Lebanon's deeper crisis: "Above all that, we have a country without a president for two full years, deliberately and intentionally. The parliament has lost its legislative capacity, as it has become an electoral body that has not elected a president in two years. The government is reduced to a caretaker cabinet, lacking full authority and divided among itself. Why all this destruction at the level of the people, institutions, and the state?"

Al-Rahi also questioned the legitimacy of any negotiations regarding a ceasefire: "Who is negotiating for a ceasefire, on whose behalf, and for whose benefit? This is the primary responsibility of a president, who is intentionally absent."

He stressed that until the parliament elects a new president, neither the parliament nor the government will have full constitutional powers, rendering all their actions incomplete and non-consensual.