During their mass celebration of Mar Maroun Day, on February 9th, in Gemmayze, Lebanon’s top Maronite clergymen took the opportunity to speak about pressing political matters in the presence of the attending politicians.
They urged the politicians to listen to the demands of the protesters.
The Lebanese Army had been deployed in large numbers to stop protesters from reaching the ceremony because of the attending politicians.
As expected, protesters showed up in a small group. They had tape covering their lips and carried signs that said “no confidence.”
Shortly before this, Aoun supporters had organized a march in Jounieh in support of MP Ziad Aswad. This happened in response to a march in Keserwan against sectarianism related to an incident regarding MP Ziad Aswad.
Maronite Archbishop of Beirut Boulos Abdel Sater addressed Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Hassan Diab, and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, in his sermon in Gemmayze.
He asked them and other politicians to “work with the true revolutionaries day and night.”
“Otherwise, the most honorable thing to do is to resign,” he said and added that power is a service.
“Do the tens of thousands of Lebanese who elected you not deserve a correction to the political, economic, and financial imbalance?” Bishop Abdel-Sater asked.
“Does your conscience not move you at the sight of a mother wailing over her son, who committed suicide because he is unable to provide for his children?” He added.
It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people have lost their jobs and most had their salaries cut as a result of the economic crisis since past November.
The situation has become more unbearable by the day on the people. Throughout the past months, Lebanon witnessed painful incidents of some who were driven to take their own lives, inciting more revolt against the state.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai also chimed in to express his support for the October 17 revolution, saying that it helped expose politicians and holding them to account.
However, he expressed that protesters should remain peaceful and “respectful of constitutional institutions.”
He added that he was praying to God to relieve Lebanon from the economic and financial crisis that plagued the country.
