BEIRUT: Maronite Archbishop of Beirut Boulos Matar visited the village of Btater in Aley Friday as part of his pastoral tours to promote national coexistence between Christians and Druze.

Matar was warmly received by MP Akram Shehayeb, representing Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, the village’s mayor and mukhtars, and various political and religious figures at Mar Elias Church.

Matar said that 46 years ago, he had been a priest in Mar Elias Church, which is scheduled to be renovated, and he had a duty to serve the Christian and Druze residents of Btater. “We have a message to live together and give an example through solidarity and national coexistence,” he added.

Mukhtar Adib Gharizi welcomed Matar and said that “despite the beliefs of Btater’s Druze residents, their Christian brothers voluntarily moved [from the village] to Beirut in the mid-1960s for work reasons,” calling on those Christians to return to their roots and live in Btater with their families.

“Our residents in the Mountain are proud of their diversity and national belonging,” Shehayeb said, adding that the residents have rejected the sectarian divisions they’ve witnessed over the years and chosen the path of national coexistence in order to promote democracy and peace across the country.

“We do not want a vertical schism in Lebanon nor a split that would make people turn their backs on each other. We hope our neighbors [in the region] will continue in their spring and achieve what we have achieved,” said Matar.