scene, as he did in this interview with Aid to the Church in Need. "The Lebanese population is not what it once was. The Lebanese used to live with dignity, they were not dependent on anybody. The fact is that our politicians made the population poor, beggars. We are haemorrhaging people. Every day we lose thousands of our best engineers, our best doctors, our best teachers, because the loss of value of the Lebanese pound to the dollar destroyed the value of salaries." Refugees The Patriarch has commended the generosity of the Lebanese for welcoming refugees since as far back as 1948, but warned that this cannot continue without help. "Our population never closed its borders. In 1948 we welcomed the Palestinian refugees. At the time our patriarch sent a letter to all the convents, schools and universities that belonged to the Maronite Church, to open their doors to them, because they were our brothers in need. They are still around half a million. We have a further 1.5 million Syrian refugees, as well, so we are looking after two million refugees. The International Community congratulates us, and tells us we are hospitable. But we don’t need to be told that we are hospitable. We can’t manage anymore.” Distinctions : National Order of the Cedar by the President of Lebanon, Michel Suleiman (2012) : Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor by the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy (2011) Gallery See also Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI List of Maronite Patriarchs Maronite Church Notes References External links Maronite Patriarchal See of Antioch 1940 births Living people Collège Notre Dame de Jamhour alumni Pontifical Lateran University alumni Lebanese religious leaders Lebanese Maronites Maronite Patriarchs of Antioch Members of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches Lebanese cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI Members of the Apostolic Signatura Members of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications People from Matn District