(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Former Preisdent Michel Sleiman was honored with a Papal Order of Knighthood during a ceremony at the Vatican on Monday.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin presented Sleiman with the Order of Pius IX, which is the highest Order the Vatican currently grants, and among the third-highest of all papal Orders.
The ceremony was attended by high-rank Italian and Lebanese officials, including Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai and Commander of the Italian Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Claudio Graziano, as well as many ambassadors and religious figures.
Sleiman spoke about Christian existence in Lebanon, and the challenges they currently face.
“I ask the permission to reiterate, that the future of Christians in the Arab world cannot be secured by foreign military protection,” Sleiman said.
Sleiman said that the existence of Christians can only be guaranteed under a pluralist system that allows for natural civil liberties.
“I have worked during my presidential term, with active conscience, to expel the ghost of extremism and division from my nation, which led to the Baabda Declaration that earned the support of all Lebanese components,” he said.
Sleiman also called on the Maronites of Lebanon to “put personal interests aside and quickly elect a new president.”