Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi reiterated on Tuesday his call on Lebanese expatriates to “swiftly register their spouses and children in the Lebanese embassies and consulates in order to obtain their home country’s nationality.” “The Lebanese embassies and consulates in Canada are cooperating to register the wife and children (of Lebanese nationals) in Lebanon,” al-Rahi said during a mass at the Maronite Catholic parish at Saint Charbel Church in Ottawa.

He praised the role played by the Maronite Foundation in the World to maintain the link between the expats and their homeland. As Lebanese “we are required to be registered nationals in order to enjoy our (civil) rights and duties,” al-Rahi stated.The patriarch travelled in April on a one-month pastoral visit to Canada, the United States and Mexico. [Naharnet]