The decision by the Maronite Antonine Order on June 24, 2026, to penalize Father Michel Rouhana and ban him from future media appearances underscores the deep-seated polarization within Lebanon regarding Hezbollah’s military arsenal. The incident highlights several critical political and institutional dynamics:
Enforcement of Church Orthodoxy:
The Maronite Church, led by the Maronite Patriarchate (Bkerke), maintains a highly consistent official stance advocating for state sovereignty, the monopoly of arms under the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), and international resolutions (such as UN Resolution 1559 and 1701). Father Rouhana’s public defense of non-state weaponry directly violated this political orthodoxy, forcing institutional disciplinary action to preserve a unified ecclesiastical front.
The Conflict Over State Legitimacy:
Rouhana’s argument—"As long as there is no state, how can we hand over weapons to the state?"—articulates the primary narrative used by Hezbollah and its allies to justify the maintenance of its paramilitary apparatus amid structural state weakness. By penalizing him, the Antonine Order rejected this rationale, signaling that the degradation of state institutions does not justify the permanent bypass of sovereign legitimacy.
A Fractured Christian Landscape:
While major Christian political blocs (such as the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party) aggressively oppose Hezbollah's armed status, Rouhana's comments demonstrate that alternative perspectives—whether driven by pragmatic calculations, geographical proximity to conflict zones, or alternative political alignments—persist within Christian clerical and social circles, despite institutional suppression.