Vatican honors former Lebanese President Suleiman
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See has honored Lebanon’s former President, General Michel Suleiman, with the distinction of Knight of the Grand Cross. In conferring the distinction Monday on Mr. Suleiman, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said it comes as recognition of his “personal engagement for peace and integration, particularly during the period of your mandate as President of Lebanon.”
Suleiman’s presidential mandate over a period of political instability, the Arab Spring and cross-border tensions and massive refugee crisis due to the Syrian conflict, expired in May this year.
Cardinal Parolin said “In the current circumstances in the history of our humanity ‘ the honor that you will receive is in itself, a profound appeal to all protagonists of political, economic and social life to work for peace and security making the common good the determining criteria of their decisions and choices governing the destiny of peoples. In this sense, I ask God to grant the Lebanese to be architects of brotherhood because it is in this way that their country will truly become a haven of peace where each citizen will be able to realize his or her own full potential and contribute to the writing of glorious pages of the history of Lebanon.”