In Easter messages, Catholic patriarchs in the Middle East deplored the widespread carnage and suffering, yet affirmed the presence of Christians in the region by calling upon their faithful to carry on with hope.
From Bkerke, the patriarchal seat of the Maronite Catholic Church in Lebanon, Cardinal Bechara Rai condemned "all kinds of wars, persecutions and attacks."
Cardinal Rai, Maronite patriarch, urged the international community "to find political and diplomatic solutions to conflicts and to lay the foundations for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace" in the region, and implored them to stop countries from providing cover, aid and weapons to terrorist organisations.
