Al-Rahi Urges Dialogue to End War on 2nd Day of Syria Visit

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Monday called for "dialogue" among the warring parties in Syria as he urged Christians there to cling to their land and heritage despite the bloody conflict.

“War can only stop through a good will for peace that would push all rivals to sit around a dialogue table,” said al-Rahi during a pastoral tour in the coastal Syrian city of Tartus, a bastion of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

“Persevere through your faith and values and hold onto your unity. God does not accept tyranny and our God is the God of peace and justice,” al-Rahi added.

“It is important to maintain our unity and cling to our land, history and heritage, because we are required to witness for the values of the Bible in this land and for God's word,” he went on to say.

During the day, al-Rahi presided at the Our Lady of Annunciation Cathedral in Tartus over a mass celebrating the enthronement of Joseph Toubji as the new Maronite archbishop of Aleppo.

Earlier, the patriarch visited Latakia's diocese and met with its priests in the presence of Archbishop Antoine Shbeir, Papal Ambassador Mario Zenari and the bishops Boulos Sayah and Hanna Alwan.

Al-Rahi was also welcomed by residents and school students in the towns of al-Sheikh Saad, al-Khrab and al-Khreibat.

The patriarch had arrived on Sunday in Tartus.

This is not al-Rahi's first wartime visit to the neighboring country.

In June, the patriarch visited the capital Damascus to attend an inter-Christian summit at the Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus.

The meeting was hosted by Greek Orthodox leader Youhanna X Yazigi.

Al-Rahi had first visited Syria as patriarch in 2013 to take part in Yazigi's enthronement, a trip that sparked controversy in Lebanon and was criticized by the Syrian regime's opponents.

It was the first visit to Syria by a Maronite patriarch since Lebanon's independence in 1943, after the one that was carried out by the late Patriarch Antoun Arida during the French mandate.

Y.R.