Pope Calls for Peace in North Africa, Middle East
(photo: Carl Hétu)
27 Jun 2011 – By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI
called for emergency assistance to thousands of people
fleeing the violence and civil strife in North Africa and the
Middle East, and he appealed to nations to explore “every
possible form of mediation” to bring an end to the
conflicts.
He asked the Vatican’s coordinating body of
church funding agencies for Eastern Catholic churches to
“do everything possible” to help the minority Christian
populations remain in the region.
The pope’s appeal came during a meeting June 24
with the Vatican coordinating body, known by its Italian
acronym ROACO. The ROACO assembly was holding its
annual general meeting at the Vatican.
Participants were discussing the changes taking
place in North Africa and the Middle East as well as how
bishops were following up on the special Synod of
Bishops for the Middle East in 2010.
The pope said the region of North Africa and the
Middle East “is so important for world peace and
stability” and he said the events unfolding there were “a
source of anxiety throughout the world.”
He said his thoughts and prayers were with all
those “who are suffering and to those who are trying
desperately to escape,” often without hope.
“I pray that the necessary emergency assistance
will be forthcoming, but above all I pray that every
possible form of mediation will be explored, so that
violence may cease and social harmony and peaceful
coexistence may everywhere be restored, with respect for
the rights of individuals as well as communities,” the pope
said.
He called for “fervent prayer and reflection” so
that the church may be able to “read the signs emerging
from the present season of toil and tears.”
ROACO must continue to support the minority
Christians in North Africa and the Middle East as well as
reach out to government authorities “to ensure that the
priests and Christian faithful can remain in the East where
they were born, not as foreigners, but as citizens who bear
witness to Jesus Christ,” he said.
The pope called for religious freedom in the
region, saying all Christians “must be recognized as
having equal dignity and true freedom.”
Christians in the East also “are called today to
promote, without distinction, the good of all humanity,”
the pope said.
Tags: Middle East Christians Pope Benedict XVI Middle East Arab Spring North Africa