From today's Daily Star, here. Read the whole sermon here.
BEIRUT: Beirut Metropolitan Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audi expressed
dismay Sunday over the country’s current social and political
conditions, calling for a moral renaissance and asking people and
politicians to stand together for the sake of a brighter future.
On the occasion of Easter Sunday for Christian denominations that follow the Eastern calendar, Audi lamented the series of woes that has befallen the country.
“Are we not ashamed of what we hear daily of calamities? Buildings collapsing on their residents, spoiled food killing people, spoiled milk and rotten medicine, and no monitoring and no accountability?” he asked during his sermon in the St. George Orthodox Church in Downtown Beirut.
“What about what we hear of deals and commissions, the waste of public money, corruption in administering our natural resources that plague the administering of the state?” he asked.
Audi also said that it was time for the ambition of Lebanese to transcend security and other basic needs.
“Lebanon is in need of a moral, cultural, social and political renaissance and must rise from this muddy quagmire in which it flounders,” he said, adding that the only way to achieve such a resurrection is when people and officials come together and learn from the mistakes of the past to build a better future.
The bishop also criticized opponents of a draft law aimed at protecting women from domestic violence, asking: “How can it be that in the 21st century that a [draft] law combating the oppression of women and violence against them is rejected?"
He also bemoaned the lack of a proper educational system and health institutions and said that children have a fundamental right to live a decent life.
On the occasion of Easter Sunday for Christian denominations that follow the Eastern calendar, Audi lamented the series of woes that has befallen the country.
“Are we not ashamed of what we hear daily of calamities? Buildings collapsing on their residents, spoiled food killing people, spoiled milk and rotten medicine, and no monitoring and no accountability?” he asked during his sermon in the St. George Orthodox Church in Downtown Beirut.
“What about what we hear of deals and commissions, the waste of public money, corruption in administering our natural resources that plague the administering of the state?” he asked.
Audi also said that it was time for the ambition of Lebanese to transcend security and other basic needs.
“Lebanon is in need of a moral, cultural, social and political renaissance and must rise from this muddy quagmire in which it flounders,” he said, adding that the only way to achieve such a resurrection is when people and officials come together and learn from the mistakes of the past to build a better future.
The bishop also criticized opponents of a draft law aimed at protecting women from domestic violence, asking: “How can it be that in the 21st century that a [draft] law combating the oppression of women and violence against them is rejected?"
He also bemoaned the lack of a proper educational system and health institutions and said that children have a fundamental right to live a decent life.
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