Amid an apparent Shiite boycott over recent comments by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al-Rahi, a “spiritual and national summit” was held in Bukkerki on Tuesday in the presence of Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
The summit was attended by Al Rahi, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Darian, Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Sami Abi Al Mona, Catholicos Alam I of the Armenian Orthodox Church, Catholic Patriarch of Armenia Raphael Bedros XXI, Chairman of the Islamic Alawite Council Sheikh Ali Kaddour, Member of Parliament Pierre Bou Assi on behalf of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geajja, Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil, Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh, and Member of Parliament Nadim Gemayel on behalf of Kataib Party leader Sami Gemayel.
According to MTV, during the meeting, Bashir and Franzy shook hands and had a conversation.
According to media reports, the summit addressed urgent issues for Lebanon and the region, in particular “reaching a unified position on the need to end the presidential crisis and decouple from what is happening in Gaza, as well as rejecting war and emphasizing the need to keep it away from Lebanon.”
“We are facing a very difficult situation, which is why we will appeal and pray for peace and rejection of war, as our people cannot bear the consequences of this war,” Al-Rahi said during the summit.
Parolin acknowledged the suffering of the Lebanese people but expressed hope that a solution could be found within Lebanon.
The summit, called by Al-Rahi, was boycotted by Sheikh Ali Al-Khatib, vice-president of the High Council of Shiite Islamic Affairs.
Meanwhile, outspoken Shiite cleric Sheikh Ahmad Kavalan appeared to explain the reasons for the Shiite boycott.
“Some spiritual leaders in our country consider the actions of (the Shiite community) and its resistance fighters to be deplorable acts of terrorism that must be deterred and prevented,” Kavalan said.
Al-Rahi said on Sunday that Lebanon must no longer be a “base for terrorist acts that undermine regional security and stability.”
A source at the High Council of Shiite Islam told An-Nahar newspaper that Khatib would boycott the summit “in protest against its stance towards the resistance.”
A source close to Bukeleki told Al-Jadeed TV that Al-Rahi “never called Hezbollah a terrorist” and clarified that his remarks were about “irregular, non-Lebanese factions that launch operations from Lebanon as if going back to the Fatah-land era.”
