 A petition signed by 519 Maronite dignitaries protested the appointment of Aoun as Archbishop of Beirut, especially since Murad, they argued, had received a two-thirds majority.The French Consul in Beirut believed that the major Maronite families "favoured Murad because of his patriotism and devotion to the cause of his coreligionists".Bishop Aoun finally took possession of his chair on June 10, 1847.