Maronite bishops support appeal to UN against Israeli drone attacks

​The episcopal college welcomed the decision of the Lebanese authorities and launched an appeal against involvement in a "proxy war". In a context of "serious economic urgency" bishops call on executive to "avoid new taxes". Necessary structural reforms and reduction in waste.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - The Maronite episcopal college has welcomed and supports the decision taken by the Lebanese authorities to file a complaint against Israel at the UN Security Council, for the attack by two drones launched in recent days in the southern suburbs of Beirut. At the same time the prelates make an appeal to the country's highest political and institutional offices, so that they do not get carried away in a "proxy war" with dramatic consequences for the nation.

In a note published on the sidelines of the monthly meeting, the bishops "praise the official directive of the Lebanese authorities to file a complaint before the UN Security Council" against Israeli attacks on the southern border". At the summit held yesterday in the summer venue of Dimane (North Lebanon), under the presidency of Patriarch Beshara Raï, the prelates asked for vigilance to avert plans to "drag Lebanon into a proxy war" that will eventually create new "problems" and hinder "internal reconciliation and consensus".

The welcome given to the speeches of the Maronite Patriarch and President Michel Aoun for the opening of the centenary of the Patriarch Hoayek and the proclamation of the Great Lebanon (1920) offer the opportunity to shine a spotlight on "the sacrifices" behind the birth of the "independent" State . For the bishops they represent "a pressing invitation to revisit a historical process that leads to the consecration of their freedom, to their independence and sovereignty".

"And at the same time - continues the note of the Maronite prelates - it represents an opportunity to evaluate the center of years of history, in its strengths and weaknesses, to improve the future". For the episcopal college it is clear that "this common effort offers the Lebanese an opportunity to consolidate their common life and to purify the exercise of their citizenship".

In addition to foreign policy and regional crises, the Maronite bishops welcomed the recent conference on the national political and economic situation that took place at the headquarters of the presidency of the Republic (the Baabda palace). The prelates added that the final declaration in which we speak of a "state of economic urgency" requires the government to "work in a serious manner to prevent the introduction of new taxes", especially for the weakest and most disadvantaged.

Finally, the bishops invite the executive to intervene against waste in the public administration, implement the structural reforms initiated in the context of the Paris Conference 2018 and choose the new administrators for vacancies ausing a criteria of capacity and competence.