President Aoun: We hope that the Lebanese will be inspired by the spirit of work that inspired Patriarch al-Huwayyik

President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, welcomed the signing by His Holiness the Supreme Pontiff Pope Leo XIV of the decree declaring the venerable Patriarch Elias al-Huwayyik, founder of Greater Lebanon, as blessed.

While thanking President Aoun, "on behalf of Lebanon, government and people, the Holy Father for his constant concern for Lebanon, especially in the precise circumstances and major challenges it is going through," he affirmed that "this declaration today, on the centenary of the proclamation of the Lebanese Constitution, comes as a sign that the divine providence, by whose guidance the new blessed one always worked, is what preserves Greater Lebanon as he wanted it and worked hard to achieve: a homeland of harmony among different sects, within its historical and civilizational borders."

President Aoun expressed hope that "the Lebanese, with all their affiliations, will be inspired by the spirit of work that inspired the new blessed one, so that their homeland remains the focus of attention of the Apostolic See and the world, and triumphs over all the challenges surrounding it."