Posted on 11/07/2017 6:33:31 PM PST by marshmallow
The journey will last one day and should take place "within the next two weeks". The cardinal welcomed an invitation from Saudi leadership, which did not impose particular "conditions". A visit that fits in with the changes underway in the ultraconservative kingdom. Lebanon confirms the role of "bridge" to the Arab world.
Beirut (AsiaNews) - Maronite patriarch, Card. Bechara Raï has announced that he will visit Saudi Arabia within the next two weeks, responding to the official invitation from Saudi king Salman and the hereditary prince, and number two in the country, Mohammad bin Salman.
This is the first historic visit by a Lebanese church leader to the ultraconservative Wahhabi kingdom, which has recently launched a series of economic and social reforms, including the opening up of sports arenas and driving to women, as well as the first attempts at emancipation from the fundamentalist view of Islam.
In an interview with Lebanese State TV, Card. Raï confirmed the invitation from the highest Saudi authorities, pointing out that "no special conditions were set for the visit" which "will last one day". "My role - added the Cardinal - is not political and everyone knows who the Maronite patriarch is."
The Lebanese Christian leader remembers that in the past, in 2013, he had received an invitation to visit Riyadh from the former monarch, King Abdallah. However, this trip was never possible, he adds, "for a variety of [non-defined] issues."
In the last period, the Saudi kingdom has initiated a series of reforms, forcefully taken by the hereditary prince, in the context of the "Vision 2030" program that invests in the social, economic, cultural and religious sphere. Historians and analysts recall that Card. Raïs will be "the first visit of a Christian religious leader since... the time of the Prophet's ". In the past.....
(Excerpt) Read more at asianews.it ...
May God make him sly as a serpent and innocent as a dove.
KSA is a dry run for what lies in store for the USA.
The Media's kinda throwing that word around... :(
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.