The Patriarch Rahi and the accompanying bishops’ delegation visited the House of the Druze Unitarian Community in Verdun. His Eminence the Sheikh Akl of the Druze Unitarian Community, Sheikh Naim Hassan, as well as the head of the national struggle bloc, the deputy Walid Joumblat, the two ministers Akram Chehayeb and Wael Abou Faour, the deputy Marwan Hamade, the chief of the Druze Supreme Court of Appeal, judge Faysal Naser Eddine, judges of the druze confession, representative of the head of the druze spiritual instance Sheikh Abou Mohamad Jawad Wali Eddine, judge Fouad Beainy, representative of the spiritual reference Sheikh Amin Sayegh, Sheikh Akram Sayegh, chiefs of committees, members of the confessional council and some Sheikhs received them. The two members of the Christiano - Islamic dialogue committee; Prince Hares Chehab and Judge Abbas Halabi were also present.
At the end of the visit, Patriarch Rahi made a speech declaring that: "It is of the best days of our life, this meeting we had been waiting for with enthusiasm long time ago. The visit aims mainly to thank his Eminence, as well as Walid Beik Joumblat, ministers, deputies, Sheiks and judges who were present, at first during the installation ceremony of the new patriarch, and then with his Eminence for congratulations and benediction.
He added:" Our past is long and historic. Our cooperation in Lebanon and in the Lebanese Jabal as well as the level reached by the Lebanese citizen, lie in the path of our work and the activity of the society’s categories. As for us, after the historic reconciliation created and achieved by the Cardinal Sfeir with the great national leader Mr. Walid Joumblat, we will continue in our path. His Eminence, we would like to say that the paved path is historic, modern and long. We urgently need continuous negotiations and an agreement upon all affairs, in order to be at the service of our Lebanese society, our people, our Lebanese man and our national destiny, especially that we belong to the Arab world where we have to play an essential role. They always say that Lebanon is an element of peace and stability, it is characterized by coexistence, and presented according to the constitution, democratic atmosphere, its public liberties and human’s main rights, given that each group of the spiritual families admits its identity and mission. We assume all together this Lebanese role in Lebanon so that we get to overcome again internal difficulties. We also carry it to our Arab world hoping that the difficult circumstances with which most Arab countries are dealing, would end up by reaching safety and peace. This was the aim of the visit today, in the beginning of a long-awaited path with cooperation and negotiation.
He concluded by saying: “We wish to this honorable House and to the Unitarian community all the good and the best of success, to the loveable Lebanon prosperity and growth, and to all of us God's glory in our activity and the construction of peace and charity’s basics under the following slogan: “association and charity”.
His Eminence the Sheikh Akl, Sheikh Naim Hassan made a speech in which he welcomed the Patriarch Rahi, saying: “The Druze Community in its whole and in the name of its national symbol the leader Walid Beik Joumblat, as well as the representatives of the honorable Sheikhs, the confessional council, the jurisdiction and all the departments and directions, would like to greet your Beatitude”.
He also added: “In the name of the Unitarian values to which we refer by their soft burst, and in the name of the noble ideas of which every honest and believing heart shall be fed, we, the sons of the Jabal, shared the fruits of its wheat and grapevine, the sources of its water, its earth was irrigated by our sweat and blood. We shared endurances, difficulties and interventions, but thank God, we remained deep-rooted in the will of coexistence.
We ask the Almighty to fix your steps and ours, unite your attempts and ours, for the sake of Unitarianism and closing ranks. We confirm convergence, coexistence, conservation of the Lebanese unity, rejection of discords, neutral political speech, dialogue and then dialogue. We also support the holding of a Christiano-Islamic summit.