BKIRKI, Lebanon: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai Monday urged the various political leaders to teach the country’s youth how to love Lebanon.

“Politicians should teach young people how to love Lebanon, how to bear responsibility toward their nation and how to engage in public administrations, the army and security forces,” Rai said at the opening of the 45th conference of the Council of Catholic Bishops in Lebanon.

“The youth are the hope of the Church and the future of the Lebanese society,” Rai added in his speech from Bkirki, the seat of the Maronite Church.

The Patriarch said he also hoped that politicians would teach youth to be united.

Regarding the current situation in Lebanon and the Arab world, Rai stressed that the Church looks forward to “pastoral and brotherly cooperation, and dialogue and love with the Muslim Brotherhood.”

During a five-day visit to France in September, Rai warned that the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria could threaten the pressure of Christians there.

After Rai’s remarks drew criticism across the political spectrum, the Maronite Patriarch sought to play down his comments.

Rai “realized he had made a mistake,” Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya MP Imad Hout said at the time.