Asia Bibi appeals for the repeal of Pakistan's blasphemy laws
- Apr 21, 2021
In Easter messages, two Catholic patriarchs criticized the situation in Lebanon and urged the faithful to cling to the hope of the Resurrection despite the prevailing darkness.
In Lebanon, Christians marked Good Friday with subdued masses in near empty churches and heavy rain as they geared up for a second Easter in a row under strict lockdown.
At the risk of compromising the appeasement efforts aimed at facilitating the formation of a new government, Lebanese media on Thursday broadcast a leaked video in which the top Christian leader openly criticizes the Shia Hezbollah movement, accusing it of harming the country by dragging it into regional conflicts.
In the throes of a collapsing economy exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and devastation from the catastrophic Beirut port blast last August, Lebanon is sinking further into a dire situation.
Thousands of Lebanese rallied Feb. 27 to show their support for the positions of Cardinal Bechara Rai as the country teeters on the verge of collapse from multiple crises.
Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai, criticizing his country’s politicians over their failure to form a new government as Lebanon veers closer to collapse, asked, “Don’t you fear God?”
As Lebanon’s top political leaders struggle to form a government coalition, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Raï continues to call on President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to hold a “personal reconciliation meeting.”
A Lebanese Capuchin then serving in Baabdat — Father Salim Rizkallah — had been appointed vice postulator of the sainthood cause of Armenian Catholic Archbishop Ignatius Maloyan of Mardin, Turkey.