Lady of Mountain Gathering Amends Document, Forms Follow-up Committee

The Christian Lady of the Mountain Gathering issued on Monday amendments to the document it issued on October 23, revealing that it has also formed a follow-up committee to tackle the Gathering’s future steps.

The amendments included “emphasizing the role of the church in establishing the foundations and principles of the Taef accord seeing as the agreement is an example of what Lebanon can offer in democracy in the Arab world, which is based on citizenship and diversity,” it announced during a press conference.

The Gathering also introduced an article to its original document, stressing the importance of peace and mutual coexistence, “as we, Christians and Muslims, are equal in our rights, diverse in our affiliations, and united in achieving a better future.”

The meeting formed a follow-up committee that would focus on the Gathering’s future steps.

It aims at organizing debates throughout Lebanon in order to discuss and develop its document, entitled “The Role of Christians in the Arab Spring.”

It would also be charged with contacting various civil factions from all Lebanese sects in preparation for the organization of a national conference, entitled, “The Role of Lebanon in the Arab Spring.”

Furthermore, the committee will help in establishing a center for research and studies on the culture of the Arab Spring.

Monday’s meeting was attended by 684 Lebanese Christians from politicians to activists.

On October 23, the Lady of the Mountain Gathering issued its document on the role of Christians in the Arab Spring in which it rejected “any attempt to link the fate of the Christians to the fate of the oppressive and tyrannical regimes” in the region.

The document is divided into three main chapters. The first summarizes the church principles, the second focuses on the rejection to put the Christians in the position of defense of dictatorships and the third stresses the future steps to consolidate the role of Christians in Lebanon and the Arab Spring.

“Determining the Christian role in the Arab Spring is not a private Christian matter, but it also concerns the Muslims, and it is their mutual concern, since ‘Christians in the Levant’, as stated in the first letter of the Catholic Patriarchs of the East, are inseparable from the cultural identity of the Muslims. And the Muslims in the Levant are inseparable from the cultural identity of the Christians. In that sense, we are responsible for one another before God and history," concluded the document.