....Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi was created a Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in a consistory on 24 November 2012.[7]
On Thursday, 31 January 2013, Cardinal Patriarch al-Rahi was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to serve as a Member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, and the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.[8]
Religio-political views
In April 2011 Patriarch Rai said that, for the sake of communion and love, he would work "to establish a sincere and complete dialogue" with Muslims "and build together a future in common life and cooperation." Patriarch Rai said his predecessor "struggled with insistence to free both the national decision-making and the land of Lebanon from all forms of tutelage and occupation, worked for reconciliation in Mount Lebanon and realized needed church reforms. All of these constitute an extension of the church's springtime started by the Second Vatican Council."[9]
- Syria and Hezbollah
In September 2011, some of the Christian community of Lebanon, partly supportive of the March 14 alliance, were upset over his controversial comments in Paris, France supporting Hezbollah's right to hold arms in defense against Israel and that the 2011 Syrian protests could awaken the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood if President Bashar al-Assad was removed from office. The opposition March 14 alliance criticised him for the comments and sought clarification from him, especially seeing that his predecessor patriarch Sfeir had very different views and was almost fanatically supportive of the Lebanese Forces, the main March 14 Christian party. However the Christians of the March 8 alliance welcomed his comments. Prime Minister Najib Mikati also supported his stance saying "The Maronite patriarch spoke about a part [of the problem]. No one is against the resistance’s arms as long as [Israeli] occupation continues. There is Lebanese unanimity on the resistance’s arms in the face of [Israeli] occupation." He said that after his meeting with al-Rahi that he was satisfied with the explanation and that he was "very relieved and reassured by the Patriarch’s wisdom."[11] President Michel Suleiman said that al-Rahi's comments were not "politics or political employment" and that he had an all-encompassing vision to show the French. He also added that "the Patriarch is not in need of anyone to defend him and his positions emanate from his central role as a person in charge of Lebanon's and the Middle East's Christians and that of Lebanon's independence and sovereignty;"[12] and that "the patriarch does not need to be defended, and his stances represent his way of taking responsibility for Lebanon’s Christians."[13]
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri said that Rai's "comments in Paris protect Lebanon from danger and I agree with what he stated and affirm his vision that is rooted in both a religious and national background" and that "If the situation further deteriorated in Syria and we reached a more radical rule than the current rule, like the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, Christians there would pay the price, either in the form of killings or displacement. Here is the picture of Iraq in front of us."[14]
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun expressed support for al-Rahi and added that no one wants the al-Assad regime to fall. "Rai’s statements express the concerns of the minorities because he is entrusted with the Synod for the Middle East. Gradual changes doesn’t harm stability and wouldn’t get Syria into the [same] troubles as Palestine, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. [As some of the Syrian demonstrators are armed and are destroying the country] the Syrian government cannot but bring order to the country."[15] Former 14 March Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, who sits with the incumbent March 8 alliance in government, also criticised Rai's assessment of Hezbollah’s arms with the fate of the Middle East conflict on the grounds that "Lebanon cannot remain hostage to regional conflicts." He also criticised Rai’s assessment of regime change in Syria as posing a threat to Christians in the country.[16]
In an interview with Reuters on 4 March 2012, al-Rahi said: "All regimes in the Arab world have Islam as a state religion, except for Syria. It stands out for not saying it is an Islamic state...The closest thing to democracy [in the Arab world] is Syria."[17]
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