Annaya (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai expressed prayers and hopes for an end of the presidential vacuum in Lebanon, which has lasted more than a year.
Celebrating Mass yesterday at Annaya, to mark the 50th anniversary of the beatification of St Charbel, he asked to "pray for the election of a head of state who can revitalize the constitutional institutions".
The Patriarch also prayed to Saint Charbel for the end of the conflicts in Middle East, hoping for the safe return of refugees to their homeland and mostly asking the saint to enlighten politicians to end the vacuum crippling Lebanon's highest Christian post.
From May 2014 were held several sessions to elect a new president, but the Lebanese Parliament has never reached a quorum for the vote due to the the boycott by the March 8 group (which collects various parties, Hezbollah, along with Christians linked to Michel Aoun).
The patriarch has often tried to rally the Christian formations in order to designate a common candidate (see photo), but the groups are divided between those - like Aoun - linked to Hezbollah and Iran and groups linked to Saudi Arabia, the great patron of Lebanese politics for many years.
Yesterday, the head of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, travelled to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for talks with King Salman bin Abdul Aziz for talks on "recent developments in the Lebanese arena." Fears of Geagea and the Saudis focus on the increased political influence of Iran in the region after the signing of the agreement on nuclear power.