Patriarch Sfeir: Division has never been useful

On the sidelines of the Synod, H2onews interviewed the Maronite Patriarch in Rome, His Eminence, Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch. During the interview, the Patriarch spoke about the situation of Christians in the Middle East and particularly in Lebanon and urged the Lebanese to unite, since the division he said has never been useful. "The church is the church wherever it is, in the east or the west. As for Christians encountering difficulties in the east, this is not new and we've indicated that they spent five hundred years under the Turkish yoke and did not have the freedom to practice their Christian faith, and things are proven to be the same today. There is room for Migration and we do not know whether things would continue like this, or will change. There is a saying: "God does not change what is in the peoples nation until he changes what is in them." We deeply regret that Christians - and here we talk about Lebanon are divided among themselves while the situation requires them to try to regroup and take a unified position. So far, some say this is useful, but division has never been useful. As for the Synod and its impacts on the Church in Lebanon, the Patriarch said: "The Synod is a good impact on Christians. Each synod tries to bring Christians together and urges them to live their faith. And the faith urges them to live in the fear of God, and whoever fears God will follow His commandments and will strengthen the bonds of friendship with Him and with his neighbor. Faith shows in the love of neighbor, and if there is no love for the neighbor, the faith is fake."

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• peace
• Patriarch
• Maronite
• church