Patriarch Hazim letter to Fares: ‘We are proud of His Excellency Issam as one of the sons of my Orthodox family’

His Beatitude the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for Roman Catholics, Ignatius IV Hazim, addressed a congratulation letter to former Deputy prime Minister Issam Fares on the occasion of his honoring by the Crisis Group in New York on October 28.

The letter read:

‘My spiritual son, Your Excellency Mr. Issam Fares, after the blessing and prayer, I have been informed with great pleasure about your honoring by the Crisis Group, along with the former two Presidents of the world’s superpower, George Bush and Bill Clinton. This mindful gesture from an international institution that is pioneering in securing stability and peace in the world proves the firm stature you occupy on the international level and the great key role you play to realize development, progress, and peace among populations.

Your Excellency, you have proved how much your person holds the Orthodox just values you were raised upon. Indeed, your humanitarian and developmental initiatives in Lebanon and overseas have made of you an international reference that distinguishes you in an honoring ceremony with two of the most important Presidents of the United States of America. This is a distinction we are proud of.

We are proud of His Excellency Issam as one the sons of my Orthodox family. Likewise, the Orthodox Lebanese and Arab people are proud of the achievements so far realized by our son for the process of development, promotion, and peace. We extend our best wishes to him and to his respectful family to experience health and wellness.