1- The Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon held its thirty-first Ordinary yearly session at Bkerke, from Monday 17 November to Friday 21, 1997, under the presidency of His Beatitude Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Cardinal Sfeir and in participation of their Beatitudes Patriarchs: Maximos V Hakim, Mar Ignace Antoun II Hayek and Youhanna Boutros XVIII Kasparian; as well as of Their Excellencies the Bishops of the Catholic Churches of Lebanon as well as the Very Reverend General Fathers of the Lebanese Orders, the members of Office of General Superiors of feminine Institutes and Communities, and two representatives of the major Superiors of the masculine Institutes. 
The general topic was: "Putting in practice the Apostolic Exhortation: A New Hope for Lebanon", published by His Holiness Pope Jean-Paul II, following the special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Lebanon which the Pope entrusted to the Church of Lebanon, during his last pastoral visit of May10 and 11.
The Members of the Assembly studied the contents of this Exhortation in its broad lines, in the light of the realities of the Church and the Society in Lebanon, they discussed propositions made by the Commissions of the Assembly to put them in practice, and they approved a program of activities for these Commissions. They then studied various administrative arrangements. At the end of their sittings, they published the following statement.

2. After the prayer, His Beatitude, President of the Session, opened the sittings by a speech in which he indicated the general topic of the Session, insisting on the necessity  “to change the mentality”, what requires of us all, the Apostolic Exhortation, we will be then absorbed in the mind of the gospel, sincere in our devotion to God; and we will serve, and construct the church and the nation.
Then, in the name of the Assembly he addressed a telegram to His Holiness the Sovereign Pontiff related to the Session’s topic to study. In this telegram he expressed to His Holiness the feelings of fidelity, soliciting his Apostolic Blessing for the members of the Assembly. He received a letter from the Secretariat of the State of the Vatican, on behalf of the Pope, in which it said: “Remembering with emotion his journey to your country, during the month of May last, the Pope is delighted of your concern to put in application the Apostolic Exhortation post-synodale ‘A new hope for Lebanon’, according to the theme opportunely chosen by your Assembly”. And the letter affirms that “the thought of the Holy Father especially turns towards the youth: they are thirsty for an authentic Christian life; so adults are invited to believe in them and to be models in the spiritual and moral domain. The church has a big responsibility towards them, so that nothing is compromised of their hope”.

3-In its introduction, the Apostolic exhortation affirms that “the rebirth of Lebanon is a common mission to all Lebanese”, and it draws up to this effect, a spiritual, ecclesiastic, social and national plan. And now we take it today, - thanks to what it contains of principles for reflection, of briefing for renovation, and of practical propositions, - as guide to accomplish this common mission that rests on a strong basis: the Christian hope.
Christ is our hope; the church is the mystery of  the communion of men with God and between themselves; it is the church of hope. The origin of this mystery and its end, it is the unique God in three Hypostases. “The Father's love is at the origin of the incarnation, of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the foundation of the church, Communion of men with God and between themselves” (Exh. ap., 28). And by the incarnated Son, “men can be in communion of life with God and with themselves” (Exh. ap., 35). The church is “in the Christ, in a way, the sacrament, that is the sign of the instrument of the intimate union with God and the union of all mankind” (Exh. ap., 19). “By the communion of the Holy Spirit, the church participates to God's intimate life of which essence and ineffable communication and love between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (cf. Exh. apos., 25).
That is our Hope that the church relies on the Christ “the Good Pastor of his people”, “the true light of the world” and “the strength of God” as we meditate it in the second chapter of the Apostolic Exhortation “A New Hope for Lebanon”.
However “to hope is to be engaged” (Exh. ap., 32), which means that the church is renovated by the Christ our hope, and by the grace of the Holy Spirit so that it is faithful to its vocation, to its mission and its reason to be, for the intention of love of the Father for the salvation of all men (cf. Exh. apos., 37). “Renewed thus by God, the faithfuls of Christ that are in Lebanon will become for all their brothers, witnesses of his love”. (Exh. ap., 1).

Motives of hope and their difficulties

4.The hope of the Lebanese is firm, as indicates it the Apostolic Exhortation, thanks to their faith in God and in its Providence. They have experimented the presence of the Providence in the middle of them, when they read the past and the times of sufferings, difficulties, incomprehension, joy, hope and the experience of solidarity; and thanks. Also, to what they possess of self confidence, of love for the nation and alertness to work to bring back vitality to Lebanon.
Comes then the New hope of what contains the Apostolic Exhortation to put in light the face of Lebanon, this country “towards which looks often turn. We cannot forget that it is the cradle of an ancient culture and one of the lighthouses of the Mediterranean (Exh. ap., 1). It is an exemplary land. “Indeed: today as yesterday, are called to live together, on the same soil, men of different cultural and religious plan, to build a nation of dialogue and conviviality, and to contribute to the common welfare, […] to render more living their traditions […] and to rediscover the common and complementary cultural wealth that will consolidate the national conviviality (Exh. ap., 119).
Lebanon has been able to stand up of its fall, thanks to the determination of its sons, its responsible and its friends; it recovered its institutions and its security; the national life became again what it was in the past, and it took its place again in its Arab environment and within the worldwide family. The responsibles opened a field of general reconstruction that requires a lot of patience, efforts and money.
 
5. However, enormous difficulties, hinder still this hope on more than a plan:

- Socially: Our society endures the fact of the dominant political and economic crisis; of a moral deviation on different levels, in addition to what overwhelms the Lebanese citizens of academic school expenses and hospitalization. The weight of taxes, the high cost of living, the stagnation in the industrial and agricultural production; unemployment increases, the state of poverty extends, the need of an infrastructure not yet completed is felt, a huge lack in the development not equilibrated, of regions and the impossibility that thousands of youth and new families meet to insure a lodging.
- Nationally: The Lebanese endure an effervescence of a narrow confessionalism that influences the administration, the public function and the projects. They complain, of what threatens the country in its existence because of the freezing of the return movement of the displaced persons and families, of a sly work that aims to fix the Palestinians in Lebanon, of the right given to the non-Lebanese to possess immense surfaces of land, of a naturalization that disrupts the demographic balance and the allegiance to the state, and of the fact that Lebanon has not yet extended its sovereignty on all its territory. The Lebanese are also deeply afraid of the internal and external enormous debts that are contracted by the wasting of the public money, of the defect in the system of taxes and its bad application to equality in all regions and to equality on all categories of citizens. In its democratic regime, Lebanon endures the constitutional institutions idleness, of the administrative practices in opposition to the democracy, and of laws contrary to the principles of the Constitution.
 
- Politically:Citizens endure by use made through the political authority to serve the personal interests, to achieve substantial gains by the abuse made by certain positions in power, of the lack of protection of national product, of the lack of concern on behalf of persons responsible of the violation of fundamental rights of citizens, consistently to principles of equity, equality and justice.

A constant attitude

6 - Consistently to Christian briefings expressed in the Apostolic exhortation, as well as to the courageous principles diffused through the collective letters of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the Orient, members of the present Session declare:

a)That they commit to pursue the real brotherly dialogue, based on the human dignity and the mutual respect, that recognize the liberty of conscience and of religious practice, considering that this dialogue is the best means to Institute a lasting and permanent national understanding. For that, they denounce all violence issuing from the difference of principles and opinions. They refuse all violations of the rights of the innocent, to any religious confessions that they belong, and all constraints imposed to our brothers who take refuge legally in Lebanon admitting no pretext to any sort of these physical or moral constraints. They implore their fellow citizens to banish the civil war and the confessional confrontations definitely.
 
b) They share with their brothers the same destiny, in Lebanon and in the Arab countries; they fight with them to prefer the general welfare on the particular interest, be it the one of a collectivity or an individual, in order to build a steady political society, based on the respect of human rights and to assure an involvement to duties and to provide the same chances to all that “the Christians of Lebanon and the whole of the Arab world, proud of their inheritance, contribute actively to the perfection of the culture” (Exh. ap., 13).

c) They declare that the church is ready, with all its means, to pursue more and more, the service of the education and the one of the poor, of the deprived and the handicapped; to sustain initiatives of the State to assure the efficient medical cares, a good teaching and the development of the society. However, the church refuses that the state hindess it in its activities, assigning to it the responsibility of failure, or rendering it responsible to have missed to its duty in matters that are the fundamental competence of the State.
 
d) They incite their sons to work for a complete reconciliation, to obey to the teachings of the gospel which condemn vengeance, and they invite to the forgiveness, to the patience towards injuries, to defeat the evil by the good and to imitate God that “raises its sun on the good and the evil”.

7 - the Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops for Lebanon, which consists of six Catholic Churches, work in collaboration, coordination and mutual help in different pastoral domains: a common organization, a common apostolic engagement in the ministerial and religious service, a common social, educational, hospitalization and health work, through institutions and organisations belonging to the church.
In addition, this Assembly which puts forward the Lebanese society, that is “the diversity in the unity”, work, in a mind of ecclesiastic community, to form a common vision of the church relative to the needs of the society and its aspirations, and to the enthusiasm with which the Catholic Churches of Lebanon, try to collaborate between themselves, and with all ecclesiastic counsils that exist in the region of the Middle East, because common problems unite them and the same destiny waits for them. They also work, to assure what permits to priests, to the religious and the lay faithfuls, to participate in the life of the church and its mission, through what it possesses of parochial organizations; that require the collaboration of all live powers of the church, to think, to plan and execute together. It is what takes place between the Assembly and its eighteen Commissions.
In the service that the church renders, it unites the spiritual dimension and the national dimension, emanating from the Holy Scriptures of which it is inspired in its life and its mission. This historic, social and spiritual dimension on the one hand and the belief in God and in his active presence in history on the other hand. For that “the Apostolic exhortation didn't extend its attention exclusively on the internal questions of the Catholic church of Lebanon and its particular vocation”. (Exh. Ap6)
It is on this basis that the Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon focused the goal of their Assembly, drew a plan of its work, for this one and given efficiency to its Commissions, and that in the light of principles that gives out the Apostolic exhortation, and thanks to the strength of the impetus given by the preparation of the Synod for Lebanon, by following the method of work established by this Exhortation and that consists to listen attentively to all categories of people living in the country. And it is that incites the Assembly to take courageous decisions to put in application the wishes and the recommendations that the Exhortation contains. (cf. Exh. ap., 124)
 
General engagement

8 - That the edification of the Lebanese society be a common work between all Lebanese it requires each of us, and all of us, thanks to the hope that is in us, an engagement to renovate the persons, the ecclesiastic structure and the parochial task,  and also, an engagement to testify for the charity, on the plan of the communion and the unity within the church, to testify for the national dialogue and for the service of the society, consistently to what we read in the Apostolic exhortation in its six chapters, concerning the description of the situation of Lebanon on all these plans, the Christian and national principles on which it is necessary to base oneself and the tasks that it is necessary to accomplish by the church and others, in order to apply principles to the real situations.
What is required first, is the diffusion of the Apostolic Exhortation and the welcome that all will reserve to it; the serious study made of it in order to know the main lines and the big axes of it; and the acquirement of the spirit that it spreads. The Fathers, while encouraging all initiatives taken for that: symposia, conferences and studies, congratulate the mass-media: televisions, radios and newspapers, in particular Telelumiere and the Voice of the Charity for the programs presented and for the magazines published by the different patriarchates, dioceses and religious orders or institutes.

Practical decisions

9 - The eighteen commissions took some practical decisions that they undertake to respect and to diffuse to patriarcates, to dioceses to religious orders and institutes, to the apostolic institutions, to the social organisms and to the other categories concerned. These decisions are relative to the following matters:

a) Ecclesiastic Matters

1 - Creations of liturgical commission on different plans: Patriarchate, Diocese and Parish, to take care of liturgical ceremonies in the Episcopal Cathedrals and in the parochial Churches: Holy Mass and all rituals and liturgical prayers.

2 - Renovation of programs of the theological teaching in the Papal Faculty of Theology and in the other ecclesiastical liturgical Institutes in Lebanon. This in coordination between themselves in order to deepen the survey of the ecclesiastic antiochian heritage and to discover treasures of the theology and the traditions of the oriental spirituality.

3 - Formation of a commission for the clerical and religious vocations in every diocese under the patronage of a patriarchal commission.

4 - To bring back the periodic œcumenic meetings between the pastors of the different churches in one same region. These meetings lean on prayer, reflection and exchange of opinions in common, they also help to make known the common antiochian heritage and to live according to its spirituality, and they contribute also to form an ecumenical mentality.

5 - To conform themselves to what has been enacted in the document worked out together by the Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs in the convent Our Lady at Charfé, on 4/10/1996, relative to mixed marriages.

6 - To have the concern to recruit priests, religious and nuns to work in the countries of emigration, and the consolidation of the apostolic spirit in dioceses and parishes through means of information.

7 - To reinforce the Islamo-Christian dialogue, one will try to make the Moslem know objectively the contents of the Christian religion, in its fundamental componants and will accept an identical knowledge of the Islam made by its religious responsibles.
 
b) Social Matters

1 - To direct Caritas-Lebanon towards the collective work of the development, towards decentralization and towards a better collaboration with the local Catholic Church. To create a spirit of collaboration and solidarity between the ecclesiastic humanitarian institutions, with the similar institutions in all religions.

2 - To adopt the project proposed by Catholic educational institutions, in its two branches, scholar and academic, to create a Catholic mutual fund, common to the Catholic schools and Institutes and Superior teaching, in order to face the increasing financial difficulties and that hinder the educational mission of the church.

3 - To carry the responsibles of the educational Institutions to try to contract expenses of the teaching in order not to overload the needy families, and to double efforts to maintain an old tradition, to know that the Catholic church welcomes its sons, the needy pupils.

4 - To work close to the Ministry of Health and the one of the social affairs to draw a sanitary plan in the country and that will render service positively to the Lebanese, as the health card, the security of old age, to assure the “real expenses” to the aged person, to the sick, to the handicapped and to the orphan.

5 - To work to found a committee for those who work in the domain of health, in the aim to humanize medicine and to put in practice briefings of the church.

c) Formation of the lay faithfuls and their mission.

1 - To reinforce the existing centers for the theological and scriptural formation of laymen.

2 - To commit that the teaching of catechism in the private and official schools, is confided progressively to specialized masters, having followed sessions of religious culture in Centers of formation for masters of catechism.

3 - To confide to the laity an active role in all Episcopal Commissions, Committees and Institutes that emanate from these commissions.

4 - To work to create pastoral councils in dioceses and parishes, there where they don't exist yet.

d) The Marriage and the Family

1 - Coordination between the Episcopal Commission for the education and the Culture - universities, for:

a) To Prepare programs for the familial formation. To compose a pastoral guide for the family.

b) To Found an Institute to prepare educators, formators and guides for the marriage and the family.

2 - Creation of new centers of pastoral solicitude for the family in dioceses, in order to prepare for the marriage, to counsel, to direct and to accompany (the young brides); to launch a call to their sons, the young, to prepare their marriage with priests of their parishes, one month before the celebration of this marriage.

3 - To create in every diocese a commission for the family and to represent it in the general Episcopal Commission for the Family.

4 - To Institute May 15, of every year, “Feast of the Family in Lebanon”.
 
e) The teaching and the education

1 - To render efficient the cooperation between the Catholic Institutes for the Superior teaching, consistently to what suggests the Apostolic exhortation on the one hand, and on the other hand, to the regulation of cooperation between these Institutes. (art.2 n°2) which stipulates to put a policy to spread the Institutes of Superior teaching in all regions of Lebanon, to differentiate the specialties and the programs of teaching in these Institutes, and to fix criteria by which universities, academic colleges or news branches will be open, in application of the paragraph 108 of the Apostolic exhortation.

2 - To found a Committee of Catholic University Professors in Lebanon.

3 - To create a religious formation unit in each of the Catholic Institutes branches.

4 - To incite persons responsible of the teaching Institutes to pursue their engagement to apply the briefings of the General Secretariat of the Catholic Schools.
 
f) Information

1 - To diffuse the papal documents and the spiritual and religious publications, including the recording tapes and movies.

2 - To specialize priests, religious and nuns in the different domains of information; to encourage them, with laymen to participate in religious informative activities, particularly to those that are organized by the Episcopal Commission for the Means of information, and to collaborate with “Radio, Voice of the Charity” and “Telelumiere”.

g) The Youth

To revive “the worldwide day of youth” in Lebanon; so that the young that are the big wealth of the nation, may achieve their growth and their human and spiritual maturity; that they may know their vocation, to discover their place in the church and in Lebanon, and “participate in the different structures of the social life”. (Exh. ap., 51).

10 - Fathers proceeded to the election of the Council of the Committee of Caritas-Lebanon, as follows:
- Father Elie Madi, m.l., has been elected president of Caritas-Lebanon, to replace his Excellency Mgr. Youhanna Fouad Hajj, elected Bishop of the Maronite Diocese of Tripoli.
-They reconducted, for a new mandate:
 * General Faouzi Abou-Farhat, Vice-president.
 * Dr Adib Tarabay, Treasurer.
 * Father Abdallah Assi, General Chaplain.
- Me. Raymond Chébel Al-Hachem has been elected Secretary General, to replace Mr. Joseph Farah, whose mandate ended.
New members have been elected to make part of the Council of the Committee, to replace those that had either resigned or whose mandate ended. They are:
 - Father Charbel Hajjar, of the order Melkite Catholic.
 - Lawyer Fadi Barcha, for the Diocese of the Greeks Melkites Catholics of Saida.
 - The engineer Fouad Chamoun, for the Maronite Diocese of Saida.
 - Mr Jean Mrad, for the Maronite Patriarchal Vicariat of the region of Jébbé. (North  Lebanon).
 - The lawyer Pierre Antoun Karam, for the Maronite Diocese of Jounieh.
On the plan of the Assembly of the Catholics Patriarchs and Bishops, the Fathers took the following arrangements:
 - Election of His Excellency Mgr. Béchara Raï, president of the Episcopal Commission for  the Family, to replace His Excellency Mgr. Georges Kwaiter, resigning.
 - They charged the Council of Presidency and the Executive Committee to compose a  mixed commission to program the implimentation of the Apostolic Exhortation.

On the occasion of the Feast of the Independence, the Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon enjoys to offer to all Lebanese: President, Government and people, its congratulations, wishing that Lebanon recovers soon all its health and its Independence, they affirm that the Catholic church in Lebanon is at the disposal of all citizens.
As we approach the third millennium of Christ's birth and the beginning of the second preparatory year to this event, which year is dedicated to the Holy Spirit, we stick firmly to the Christian hope and we commit ourselves, individuals, groupings and institutions to a spiritual renewal; we part to testify God's love in the church, in the Society and in the Nation, and also, we prepare to celebrate the Grand Jubilee of the year 2000. We entrust our efforts to the intercession of the Very Holy Mother of God, Our Lady of Lebanon, that we venerate faithfully and sincerely.
In this, we hope, with His Holiness Pope Jean-Paul II “that efforts of each, by love for the Lord and for his Church, will carry many fruits for the ecclesiastic life and for the whole Lebanese society. Then, Lebanon, the happy mountain that saw the Light of Nations, the Prince of the Peace rise, will be able to flourish anew, it will answer to its vocation to be a light for the peoples of the region, and sign of peace that comes from God” (Exh. ap., 125).
And whereas the church lives a time of preparation to Christmas, feast of the birth of the Lord Jesus, Savior of man and Son of God that took body to renew the face of the earth. “and to save all men so that they manage to know the Truth” (Tim 2,4) we hope that “the Good News” of Salvation will be for all men, source of force, of joy and hope. Then the people “will grow like a palm tree; it will grow like a cedar of Lebanon” (Exh. ap., 125).