In an attempt to silence the attacks against Patriarch Rai's stances, Cardinal and ex-Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir told a local radio station on Saturday that "he does not object to what the patriarch has said and he says what needs to be said." He continued by reassuring all the Lebanese that Bkirki will never change.

Patriarch Sfeir resigned from his post in 2011 after 25 years of servitude. Throughout his era, he played a crucial role in ending the Syrian hegemony in Lebanon and reinstating the Lebanese Christians as a key political player.