NNA - Qatar exerts efforts to free the two patriarchs, president of the Republic Michel Sleiman disclosed from the Catholic Melkite patriarchate in Rabweh today. The emir in person sees to it that both prelates are released safe and sound, the president retorted.



No to a dictatorship of the preponderant majority and the future of the Christians in this part of the World, could never be realized through ghettoization or isolation, the president exclaimed in his inaugural speech at the opening of the General Congress of the Levantine Christians under his patronage.



Exile and alienation come under multiple forms; namely through direct coercive power, conventions and external-internal conflicts, he exclaimed. The percentage of Oriental Christians has dwindled to 6 % as a result of the Middle Eastern crisis, retracting nationalist ideology, growth of religious fundamentalism and major risk posed by retreating statehood amid rising popular agitation, he warned.



Constitutional moves aimed at affecting separation of powers and the exceptional Lebanese prototype offer however, a glimmer of hope; all religious minorities enjoying mutual enrichment and peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims are clear manifestations, he added. The future of the Christians lies in their ability to bolster openness and moderation; their project is identical to that of each and every citizen or confession aspiring for freedom, justice and development, the president concluded.



====G.G./R.K.