NNA - May Lebanese antagonists follow Nelson Mandela's good example, Maronite patriarch Bechara Rahi, said in his Sunday homily at Bkirki's Chapel of the Resurrection today.



Truly, the World lost a great politician who firmly believed in mercy and reconciliation, he went on. One would only wish to bear witness to a bravery of our politicians similar to that of Mandela's as he experienced the beauty of reconciliation and cooperation, Rahi exclaimed.



Marking the birthday of John the Baptist and the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, the patriarch aided by a couple of senior clerics and monks, paid tribute to the incapacitated young man Michael Haddad who carried the burden of the Cedars of Lebanon all over, as he said!



He pleaded with the United Nations to save Maaloula from the evil meted on it by the gunmen and stressed need for freeing all 12 abducted nuns and the Jesuit father Paolo Del-Oglio.



Rahi prayed for peace in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and the Levant as a whole and beseeched his Lady Queen to intercede on behalf of Lebanon with the all-too High One in the name of the Holy Trinity!



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