asianews.it - The historic visit of Card. Raï to Saudi Arabia, where he met King Salman and the hereditary prince. Commenting on his meeting with the former premier, he emphasizes that he understands the "motives" for his resignation. Emphasis placed on the common commitment to peace in the region and the fight against terrorism, together with the historic "friendship" between the two countries.
Beirut (AsiaNews) - Regional politics and terrorism, interreligious dialogue and Lebanese issues were at the center of Maronite Patriarch Bechara Raï ‘s recent trip to Riyadh, the first historic visit of a Christian leader to the Saudi kingdom. Over two days Cardinal Raï met King Salman, hereditary prince Mohammed bin Salman (Mbs) and former Lebanese premier Saad Hariri, who assured that "within the next two days" he will return to Lebanon.
The Cardinal's official meetings were held in the presence of Christian delegates - the two bishops Boulos Matar and Paul Abdelsater - and four Saudi ministers. Although picked up by the local and international press, there was little media coverage, or information on what emerged from the fact-to-face meetings. In fact the Saudi authorities only provided official information to a single Western agency and to the Saudi official state news agency SPA.
At the end of the trip, the Maronite patriarch chose not to go into detail about the results of the meetings that were, overall, short (23 minutes with King Salman). He expanded further on the case of Hariri's resignation, which he claimed to understand "the motives", thus pointing to - without specifying it - the patriarch's hostility to Iranian and Hezbollah maneuvers in the country denounced by the premier.