The President of the Syrian League, Secretary General of the Federation of Lebanese Christian Unions, Mr. Habib Ephram dispatched a telegram to former Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares, expressing his heartfelt congratulations for the Papal Order he was granted.

The telegram read, ‘Your contributions in the service of justice, peace, and human rights, and in the promotion of the dialogue of civilizations with a pioneer group of assistants who enjoy a sense of responsibility and integrity, is tantamount to a sublime message that goes beyond daily politics and positions to touch the very depth of the human being’s significance and dignity’.

It also read, ‘Assigning the Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Nasralah Butros Sfeir to grant you the Order is tantamount to devotion in the bestowal of honor and amiability’.

Mr. Ephram concluded by saying, ‘We congratulate you from the bottom of our heart in your capacity as a Lebanese, oriental Orthodox knight and a worthy person’.