Intervention of Mons. Elie Béchara HADDAD, Archbishop of Saïda of the Greek-Melkites (LEBANON)

The sale of Christian land in Lebanon is becoming a dangerous phenomenon. It threatens the Christian presence to the point of reducing it to a minimum in the future.
To resolve these phenomena, we propose:
- the creation of a strategy of solidarity between the Churches, sponsored by the Holy See
- Modify the discourse of the Church towards Islam, to distinguish clearly between Islam and fundamentalism. This eases our dialogue with Muslims in view of helping us to persevere in our land.
- To go from the concept of helping Middle Eastern Christians to the concept of development to root them deeper in their land and finding work for them.
Our experience in the Diocese of Saida is predominant on this level.

[00077-02.03] [IN055] [Original text: French]