Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi delivered a sermon in the mass of the Feast of the Annunciation, in which he addressed the pillars of the state that are represented by Lebanon's neutrality, balanced and equal participation in governance and administration, away from sectarianism and political quotas.

Al-Rahi began his sermon by stating, "How much every human society today, especially the Lebanese society, needs fellowship and love, while it is in a state of estrangement, conflicts, hostilities, distrust, some people's influence, and the obstruction of constitutional texts for personal purposes, just as it is the case with the failure to elect a president of the republic, who is taken hostage for personal and factional calculations, without any consideration for the disintegration of the state and the poverty of its citizens, perhaps intentionally."

The Patriarch considered that these cases disrupt the fundamental constitutional characteristics of Lebanon, which he listed as follows:

"A- Equality among citizens regardless of their religions, because they belong to the state of Lebanon by citizenship, not religion. This means that Lebanon is a state that separates religion from the state, and "respects all religions in their beliefs, and guarantees the laws of their personal status" (Article 9 of the Constitution). Therefore, there is no state religion in Lebanon, and the source of the constitution is purely civil. Unfortunately, today we witness practices that contradict all these characteristics, giving Lebanon an odious sectarian face."

"B- Cultural and religious pluralism which is incompatible with singularity. From this characteristic derive the public freedoms in the Lebanese system, starting from the freedom of conscience and belief, freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of publishing and writing, and freedom of assemblies and parties, as the constitution guarantees."

"C- The charter of living together, Christians and Muslims, known as the National Pact (1943) renewed by the Taif Agreement (1989) and introduced into the constitution (1990). It considered that "no authority contradicting coexistence is legitimate" (Preamble of the Constitution, c). This pact is based on two things.

1- Lebanon's neutrality.

2- Balanced and equal participation in governance and administration, without this participation being based on sectarian, partisan, and parliamentary bloc quotas. This sectarianism deprives more than half of the Lebanese citizens of this participation."