The President of the General Council of Maronite former Minister Wadih el-Khazen conveyed his congratulations to former Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares for the Papal Order of Saint-Gregory the Great the Supreme Pontiff decorated him.

The telegram read, ‘I was delighted that the Pontifical gesture this time was bestowed from the highest Catholic spiritual authority in the world after the decoration you had received from the highest Catholic spiritual authority in Russia. This piece of news embodies the attention the Apostolic See in Rome devotes to our country and to the fervor of the deep religious passion expressed by His Holiness the Pope to his sons who crowned their achievements with donations’.

It went on saying, ‘this historical tradition, which was revived by His Holiness the Supreme Pontiff by bestowing upon you the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, and assigning Maronite Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir to offer it to you in a ceremony held in Paris, it reflects a high esteem from the pillars of the Church in the Vatican for the achievements you realized in the most prestigious universities and world academies endeavoring for the development of thought and human being.

On my behalf and on behalf of the members of the General Council of Maronite, I relay to Your Excellence my warmest congratulations, asking God to preserve you for Lebanon.