Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi emphasized in his Sunday sermon the necessity of "unifying the stance on securing the return of Syrian refugees and displaced persons to their homeland, and not succumbing to European and international pressures and their tempting methods aimed at preventing their return and keeping them in Lebanon for political purposes that do not serve their interests or those of Lebanon."

 "expediting the election of a president for the republic to ensure the safety of the national body by restoring constitutional institutions to their normal functioning and powers, and extracting the state from the state of chaos and encroachment on the separation of powers,' Al-Rahi stressed.

 "To stop the war on southern Lebanon, and to put an end to the demolition of homes, destruction of shops, burning of land and its crops, killing of innocent civilians, and their displacement, and the destruction of their livelihoods in an already impoverished economic situation," Al-Rahi said.