Lebanese patriarch urges vigilance to avoid 'Arab Winter'

New York City, N.Y., Oct 25, 2011 / 04:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The leader of Lebanon's Maronite Catholic Church says the world must not let the “Arab Spring” turn into a “winter” of civil war and minority oppression.

“The so-called 'Arab Spring' sweeping the Middle East holds much promise, yet we must remain vigilant. The Church abhors the use of violence to meet any goal,” said Patriarch Bechara Rai of Antioch, in an Oct. 20 conference at the Catholic Near East Welfare Association's U.S. headquarters.

“We do not wish to see happening in these countries what happened in Iraq, where the country now is in the middle of a civil war,” said the leader of 3.2 million Eastern Catholics of the Maronite tradition. “In such a situation, this will not be a 'spring.' It will be rather a 'winter.'”

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