A memorial mass service was celebrated on Sunday at Saint Mary's Church in Zahle, marking the 18th commemoration of the late Minister and Deputy Joseph Skaff.

Baalbeck and Deir El-Ahmar's Greek Catholic Bishop, Elias Rahhal headed the service which was attended by the Free Patriotic Movement leader, MP General Michel Aoun, former MP Emile Lahoud (representing his father), former Speaker, Hussein Husseini; Deputy-PM, Issam Abou Jamra; MP Hussein Hajj Hassan (representing Sayid Hassan Nasrallah), as well as a number of MPs. politicians and prominent figures in Zahle.

Following the service, Minister Elias Skaff gave a word in the Church Hall, in which he announced the launching of a new political movement carrying the name of the parliamentary bloc which was founded by the late Minister Skaff, namely the "Popular Bloc Movement."

Skaff said that this movement was not new but was actually founded and headed by his father who always believed in a unified nation, with no sectarian boundaries, a nation for all the Lebanese, since 1951.