On July 1st, the meeting of church leaders convened in the Vatican, in the presence Pope Francis. Prior to the meeting, a collective prayer was recited at St. Peter’s Basilica. 

The session commenced with Aram I Catholicos’s lecture on Lebanon’s socio-political crisis. Christian leaders of Lebanon gathered around Pope Francis in the Vatican on Thursday for a Day of Prayer and Reflection for Lebanon.

Some 10 senior leaders of the various Christian Churches and communities of Lebanon, along with their delegations, have arrived in the Vatican for a day of prayer and reflection with Pope Francis, on the current situation of the troubled Middle Eastern nation and its future, and to implore for the gift of peace and stability.

Below is the list of members of the Ecumenical Council of Eastern Churches of Lebanon, who are participating in the Day of Prayer and Reflection:

1. His Beatitude Cardinal Béchara Boutros, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East

2. His Beatitude Youhanna X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antiochia

3. His Holiness Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East

4. His Beatitude Youssef Absi, Patriarch of Antiochia of the Greek-Melkites

5. His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenians

6. His Beatitude Mor Ignatius Youssef III, Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch

7. Reverend Joseph Kassab, President of the Supreme Council of the Evangelical Community in Syria and Lebanon

9. His Excellency Michel Kassarji, Bishop of Beirut of Chaldeans

10. His Excellency César Essayan, Apostolic Vicar of Beirut of Latins

11. Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches

12. Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon