Joint Communiqué - UN Secretary-General meeting with Religious Leaders
20 December 2021
By United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; His Beatitude Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rahi, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and Head of the Maronite Church; His Eminence Abdul Latif Derian, Sunni Grand Mufti; Judge Sheikh Mahdi El-Yahfoufi representing His Eminence Sheikh Ali Al Khatib, Deputy Head of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council; His Beatitude Patriarch John X Yaziji, Patriarch of Antioch for the Greek Orthodox Church; His Eminence Sheikh Sami Abil Mona, Druze Sheikh Aql and Head of the Druze Unitarian Council; and His Holiness Catholicos Aram I Keshishian, Head of the Catholicosate of the House of Cilicia of the Armenian Orthodox Church.
Eminent religious leaders met today with the United Nations Secretary-General during his visit to Lebanon.
Participants confirmed their commitment to openness, tolerance and coexistence as the essence of Lebanon’s identity and stability.
They stressed the importance of safeguarding these values, which are at the core of faith, especially at this difficult time of grave financial and socioeconomic crisis that is heavily impacting the population. Participants expressed their determination to focus on what unites Lebanon and brings its people together, and they encouraged their communities to do the same and to adopt dialogue as a means of resolving differences in a spirit of consensus and togetherness.
Participants emphasized a shared desire across all religions and confessions to see Lebanon recover and prosper, and they committed to doing all they can to restore hope to its people.
The meeting reconfirmed the support of the United Nations to Lebanon in order to halt the crisis and spare the people from further suffering.
ENDS
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