Maronite Patriach Bechara al-Rahi called on the ruling authority to stop impoverishing and aggrieving the people, adding that the Lebanese must not be left mired in deprivation and unemployment.

“How would the new government fulfill the reformist pledges it made in its policy statement while it is still burdening the treasury with exorbitant extra-budgetary expenditures, without putting an end to corruption and returning the usurped public funds?" Al-Rahi asked in his Sunday sermon.

“How can the government keep mum about the nonfulfillment of the Shura Council's decisions, because this or that person is abstaining or preventing the implementation, either through a domineering attitude or threats or by the power of weapons," he said.

"Where is the State’s prestige?"

As for the civil marriage topic, the Patriarch deplored the blatant ignorance of the basic values and principles of Christianity, stressing the need for religious education for Christians to get to know better their system of faith.

“When we hear how some Christians talk about civil marriage and religious marriage, we realize the extent of ignorance and the need for theological education," he pointed out.