JBEIL, Lebanon, MAY 27, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A Maronite bishop of Lebanon said the nation's new president has been almost unanimously welcomed because of his record of prudence and mediation.
Bishop Bechara Rai of Jbeil told Vatican Radio that there are two main reasons for the Lebanese people's satisfaction with Sunday's election of Michel Suleiman, 51, a Maronite Catholic.
In the first place, the country "could not go forward without a head of state, as everything was paralyzed," the bishop said. And "the president enjoys great esteem in Lebanon and abroad," he added.
Suleiman was elected to fill a power vacuum left when Emile Lahoud stepped down in November. Parliament had failed 19 times to elect a replacement, due to bitter clashes between the government and the opposition.
An agreement was reached last week, with the help of the Arab Leage, which gave veto power to Lebanon's opposition Shiite Hezbollah movement.
That agreement also paved the way for Suleiman's election.
"He has had international, regional and internal consensus precisely because of his neutral position, not only recently, but since he was head of the Lebanese army, nine years ago," Bishop Rai said. "He has always maintained a position of mediation with everyone, and has never aligned himself with one side."
Still, the bishop acknowledged that the road ahead for the president is anything but smooth.
He noted "the problem of the majority and of the opposition, namely, the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites -- although that is a conflict in the whole of the Middle East, which has repercussions in Lebanon; the issue of Hezbollah's arms, […] the formation of the government, […] the financial debt," and the vast numbers of youth who emigrate out of Lebanon.
"Of course, he must not be the only one to carry this cross, but all the Lebanese," exhorted the Maronite bishop. "Likewise the Church has a great role to play in continuing the effort of reconciliation in Lebanon. […] We must work a lot to complete this political reconciliation and go forward with a new country that is able to take up its role again."
