The intolerance of the Maronite Patriarch, Sfayr. The fanatic Maronite Patriarch of Lebanon ordered the Lebanese government, in the midst of this war of aggression on Lebanon, to close down a Baptist church in Lebanon, and to prevent the "gathering of Baptists in it." The Patriarchate said in an official statement that "there is no need whatsoever for the construction of a Baptist church in a Christian area, with a Maronite majority." The statement threatened "stiff resistance."