Beirut: Minister of Culture, Dr. Ghassan Salam©, received in his office at the National Library in Sanayeh the Director General of the Antonine Maronite Order and the Abbot of the Monastery of Saint John the Qalaa in Beit Mery, Father Bechara Elia. The meeting was accompanied by Father Bechara Bou Abboud, Director of the Antonine Technical Institute in Dekwaneh, and the Director General of Antiquities, Engineer Sarkis Khoury, and the Architecture and Heritage Consultant, Jad Tabet. Several general and cultural issues were discussed.
According to National News Agency – Lebanon, Father Elia invited the Minister to visit the former Monastery of Saint John in Beit Mery. This was an opportunity to discuss the mechanism for recovering the monastery’s artifacts, preserved by the Directorate General of Antiquities during the civil war.
Father Elia also presented Minister Salam© with a series of his books.