NNA - The "Caritas Lebanon Association" celebrated today its foundation golden jubilee in a Mass service presided over by Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, held at the "Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon" in Harissa, with a crowd of official, spiritual and media figures attending. 

In his word on the occasion, the Patriarch said: "Caritas Lebanon accepted the challenge of faith fifty years ago and experienced its unexpected fruits, and here it is growing and expanding in its programs and service to Lebanon...So let us raise our thanksgiving sermon, in quest of more faith..."

He added: "As Caritas was in the beginning, so it is now and remains a mirror of organization and good management, whose affairs are administered by real messengers who succeeded in carrying its secretariat," noting that through it, "the Church seeks out those in need and strives to give them a more abundant life."

“How we wish that our civil and political officials had enjoyed an ounce of faith and courage towards the challenge required, for then we would not have been in such a state of complete political, economic, financial, daily living and social collapse," al-Rahi underlined.

Amidst the previaling delicate circumstances, he called for a speedy formation of a national government so that attention can be focused on the upcoming election of a rescue president of the republic.

"These four remaining months of the mandate's term should be devoted to reducing the percentage of hatred, revenge, maliciousness and judicial police pursuits that Lebanese society is unfamiliar with," the Patriarch said, adding that "they should be devoted to alleviating the suffering of the people, controlling the security situation, neutralizing Lebanon, and reviving the judicial investigation into the port crime."

"The remaining months must be devoted to amending the recovery plan, to continue the border negotiations over oil and gas, and especially to elect a new president of the republic as soon as possible to ensure the unity of the Lebanese entity, and to maintain legitimacy, and to anticipate any attempt to create a presidential vacuum which we reject," he underscored.

"It is necessary that the program of the new government includes a clear commitment to these issues," al-Rahi asserted.

========R.Sh.