NNA - Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, warned of a double tragedy that is repeated every day, especially those with financial and tyrannical influence, as well as bribery of power and influence, saying: “Conscience is neither sold nor bought because it is sacred, and trading in it is a violation of it.”

In his message during Easter Mass, the Maronite Patriarch also commented on the return of the ambassadors of the Gulf states to Lebanon, saying: "As much as we welcomed the return of our Arab friends to Lebanon, we hope that the Lebanese themselves will return to their Lebanon and abandon their foreign loyalties and their affiliation with projects alien to our history and heritage."

Patriarch Rahi also held the Lebanese people responsible for their political choices, saying: "If the people do not realize the danger of the stage and choose the forces capable of defending Lebanon's entity and identity, then these people themselves, not the political system, bear the responsibility for the great collapse."

He warned against the danger of misleading people until they elect a parliamentary majority that does not resemble them and does not meet their ambitions, which would increase their isolation and collapse.

Rahi concluded by saying that Lebanon needs a parliamentary, national, sovereign, independent, militant majority that believes in the country's privacy, the legitimate state, constitutional institutions, and the army as a single reference for arms and security.

==========R.K.