exclamation

Important notice: To continue serving our valued readers during the postal disruption, complete unrestricted access to the digital edition is available at no extra cost. This will ensure uninterrupted digital access to your copies. Click here to view the digital edition, or learn more.

Children run along a street with rubble from buildings damaged by what activists said was a government airstrike in the Aleppo, Syria, Dec. 5. Middle East bishops and patriarchs say the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is key to peace throu ghout region.
Children run along a street with rubble from buildings damaged by what activists said was a government airstrike in the Aleppo, Syria, Dec. 5. Middle East bishops and patriarchs say the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is key to peace throu ghout region. CNS photo/Aref Hretani, Reuters

Palestinian question key to Mideast peace, say Catholic leaders

By  Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
  • December 6, 2012

VATICAN CITY - At the end of a three-day meeting in Lebanon, the Catholic patriarchs and bishops of the Middle East said peace in the region will be impossible without a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The 77 Catholic leaders said the greatest contribution to peace in the region would be to finally find a "just and peaceful solution to the Palestinian question," which they said is at the root of all the tensions in the region.

The bishops and patriarchs met Dec. 3-5 in Harissa, Lebanon. According to Fides, the Vatican's missionary news agency, at the end of the meeting, they issued a pastoral statement on implementing Pope Benedict XVI's September document on the church in the Middle East as well as their appeal for peace in Syria and throughout the region.

Fides said the appeal makes three main points, beginning with the urgency of finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a response to the desire of the Palestinian people to have an independent country.

The second point, Fides reported, was to ask everyone in the region to work to end local conflicts and violence by putting into place projects for reconciliation and peace that "guarantee freedom for all and the safeguarding of human dignity."

"The appeal refers explicitly to the situation of martyred Syria," Fides said.

The third point focused on the situation of Christians in Syria and throughout the Middle East.

The bishops and patriarchs say Christian leaders must intensify their relationships and their cooperation on projects designed to help Christians stay in the region, Fides said. They also asked their Muslim neighbors to help safeguard the full rights of the region's Christians, recognizing them as fellow citizens.

Tagged under:

Related items

More in this category: « CRS, Caritas Philippines ready to speed relief to thousands after storm New charity rules don't forbid state funding, Vatican official says »

Please support The Catholic Register

Unlike many media companies, The Catholic Register has never charged readers for access to the news and information on our website. We want to keep our award-winning journalism as widely available as possible. But we need your help.

For more than 125 years, The Register has been a trusted source of faith-based journalism. By making even a small donation you help ensure our future as an important voice in the Catholic Church. If you support the mission of Catholic journalism, please donate today. Thank you.

DONATE