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Church bells could be heard ringing throughout Lebanon May 12 mourning Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir, the country’s retired Maronite Catholic patriarch known for defending his country’s sovereignty and independence. He was 98.
In a telegram of condolence released May 14, Pope Francis said that as an “ardent defender of the sovereignty and independence of his country,” Cardinal Sfeir would “remain a great figure in the history of Lebanon.”
Governing the Maronite Church with “gentleness and determination,” he was a “free and courageous man” on the public stage, wisely knowing how to bring people together in the name of peace and reconciliation, the pope said in the message to Cardinal Bechara Rai, the current patriarch.
Cardinal Sfeir served as Maronite patriarch from 1986 to 2011.
The cardinal was considered a respected power broker during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, which saw infighting between rival militias, including opposing Christian factions.
“The national arena will miss the presence of the patriarch, a man of solid faith in his national positions and in defending Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence at the most difficult stage,” said Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
In September 2000 Cardinal Sfeir issued, with the Maronite bishops, an appeal for an end to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, which began during the war in 1976 and lasted until 2005.
For this stand, Cardinal Sfeir was referred to as the father of Lebanon’s second independence.
As patriarch, Cardinal Sfeir often told the faithful that despite the difficulties of current times, their circumstances now were simpler than “the miseries and persecution that befell our people throughout the ages. Our Church is a Church struggling for excellence.”
He is credited with organizing the 2004 Maronite Synod of Bishops, the first full Maronite synod to take place in Lebanon in 150 years, and the first in which women participated. It resulted in an 800-page document, an extensive study of the identity of the Maronite Catholic Church and its mission in the world.
Born in Rayfoun, Lebanon, Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir was ordained a priest in 1950 and ordained bishop in 1961.
He was appointed cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1994.
He served as president of the Assembly of the Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon and was a founding member of the Assembly of the Catholic Patriarchs in the East.
Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation in 2011.
Cardinal Sfeir’s Funeral Mass was at Bkerke May 16. The Lebanese government declared May 15 and 16 as days of national mourning.—CNS
