Al-Rahi Calls for Reactivation of Hizbullah-Bkirki Dialogue Committee

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said Wednesday that he would activate the dialogue between Bkirki and Hizbullah upon his return from the Vatican at the end of the week.

He told Radio Charity and Voice of Lebanon stations in an interview from Rome that he had asked the Hizbullah delegation that visited him in Bkirki on the occasion of his election last month to reactivate the committee.

Al-Rahi stressed the importance of resuming the functions of the Islamic-Christian dialogue committee.

Furthermore, he told the radio stations that he would visit the congregations of Sidon and Tyre in southern Lebanon when he comes back to Beirut.

Al-Rahi met with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Wednesday morning. The patriarch also held talks with Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches Cardinal Leonardo Sandri on Tuesday.

Lebanon’s ambassador to the Vatican, George Khoury, held a reception in the patriarch’s honor at the Grand Hotel on Wednesday evening. Several diplomats and members of the Lebanese community took part in the event.

Al-Rahi is scheduled to meet with Pope Benedict XVI at noon Thursday.