The Chaldean Patriarch in Iraq, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, in a message has expressed “pain and concern” about the events in Lebanon and the Holy Land. He calls on the international community to work for peace. Sako writes: “We are shocked by the conflicts, the devastation, the displacement and the murder of thousands of people, including innocent civilians, children and women, and by the violation of people’s rights, freedom and dignity.”
The Chaldean Church calls on the international community “to assume its responsibility to act quickly, seriously and concretely to end the war and to work together to find lasting solutions to the problems and crises of the region, so that its citizens can live freely and with dignity as brothers and sisters in peace and stability.”
The Maronite Patriarch of Lebanon, Cardinal Béchara Boutros Rai, called in his Sunday sermon in Diman for an end to the war through negotiations and diplomatic means.
There can only be losers in the current trial of strength, warned the Cardinal. Reconstruction would cost money and a lot of time. According to Vatican News, he continued: “The assassination of Hassan Nasrallah has left a wound in the hearts of the Lebanese. The martyrdom of Christian and Muslim leaders who believed in the cause of truth, justice and support for the weak strengthens the unity of the Lebanese even more.”
