In the New Year’s sermon delivered by Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi from Bkerke, on the first day of January 2026, he addressed a spiritual and national appeal to the Lebanese people, describing the new year as laden with hopes and challenges.
Patriarch al-Rahi began his speech by referring to the Gospel of the day and the message of peace, then moved on to the national situation, considering that Lebanon welcomes the new year burdened with the wounds of the past, the suffering of the people, the anxiety of families, and the questions of young people, amidst the wars, divisions, and unrest that are sweeping the region. However, he affirmed that hope is still possible, because every new beginning carries new opportunities for recovery.
He explained that the beginning of the new year in the name of Jesus Christ urges the Lebanese to adopt a different discourse, a discourse that unites and does not divide, calms and does not inflame, builds and does not destroy, stressing that Lebanon today is in need of “a truthful word to be said, a responsible decision to be taken, and a comprehensive national will that places the human being at the heart of attention.”
He also pointed out that peace does not come ready-made, but is built from within, through a comprehensive national decision and a culture of life, and with external support that contributes to building the state, strengthening its institutions, and consolidating its pillars, so that Lebanon can be a homeland that protects its people and its land.
At the conclusion of the sermon, Patriarch al-Rahi expressed his hope that the new year would be a year of calm and reconciliation, and that hope would turn into action, words into deeds, and faith into commitment. He extended his best wishes to all Lebanese, Christians and Muslims, that this year would be the beginning of a new journey of internal peace and national stability, and a renewed confidence in the ability of this country to flourish whenever good intentions combine, raising “Glory and thanks to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.”
