Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir said on Sunday that while he prayed for peace in the region he was not enthusiastic about sending more ships to the Gaza Strip in a bid to break the siege imposed by Israel.Sfeir returned to Beirut Sunday evening ending a visit to Cyprus where he took part in a welcome reception for Pope Benedict XVI.
“We are not men of war,” Sfeir told reporters upon his arrival at the Rafik Hariri International Airport late Sunday in response to a question about whether he agrees with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s call for sending new ships to the Gaza Strip to lift the siege.
“But you know that we pray for peace to prevail across the world,” Sfeir added.
Asked whether Bkirki will continue efforts to unite Christian ranks in lebanon, Sfeir said: “We are doing the best we can.”
Sfeir had told AFP over the weekend that the document launched by Pope Benedict XVI in Cyprus is “addressed to Christians, urging them to unite ranks.”
He also stressed that the Arab-Israeli conflict negatively affect Middle East Christians “because situations of conflict and lack of harmony and consensus and going beyond the law drives more and more Christians to emigrate.”SIC: TDSL