March 14 leaders stay away from Bkirki’s Good Friday Mass

Politics played a role in Good Friday celebrations in Bkirki Friday, with politicians from the March 14 coalition opting not to attend. The services were attended by a number of other politicians, including Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and ministers from Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government. Sources in Bkirki told The Daily Star that it remained unclear as to whether March 14 politicians would attend Easter Sunday services. “Bkirki does not send official invitations, and that’s why it is not possible to know who is attending ... but none of the March 14 politicians attended the Good Friday ceremony,” said the source. Relations between Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai and March 14 have frayed since Rai made controversial statements on the ongoing developments in the Arab world. In an interview with Reuters, Rai warned earlier this year that violence and bloodshed are turning the Arab Spring into a winter, and that the violence was threatening Christians and Muslims alike across the Middle East. In response to Rai, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said that he opposed any patriarch that defends the Syrian regime. Although no official boycott of Bkirki has been announced by the March 14 coalition, MPs and politicians from the coalition are not expected to attend Easter mass. In an interview with Future News, Batroun MP Butros Harb said he would be staying away Sunday because of the “misunderstanding” between Bkirki and Christian March 14 politicians. “There is no decision to boycott Bkirki, but there is a misunderstanding between March 14’s Christians and Patriarch Beshara Rai,” Harb said. Speaking during Good Friday mass at Bkirki, Rai called on officials to commit to public service and stay away from corruption. “Everyone is called on today to stand away from corruption and from exploiting power for private purposes and partisan gain,” said Rai, during his second Good Friday sermon since becoming patriarch. “We ask Jesus for peace in the world and in our homeland, particularly the countries in the Arab world that seek to live in dignity and enjoy personal freedom, and desire democratic governments that respect the dignity of every human,” the patriarch said. Also to mark Good Friday, President Michel Sleiman and First Lady Wafaa Sleiman attended mass at the Holy Spirit University in Kaslik. The mass was attended by a number of officials, including the Vatican’s ambassador to Lebanon, William Levada.