Cairo, October 24: On Saturday, the bishops and patriarchs said the citizens of the Middle East “call upon the international community, particularly the United Nations, to work conscientiously to find a peaceful, just and definitive solution in the region, through the application of the Security Council’s resolutions,” AFP reported.
On the last day of a two-week synod attended by Pope Benedict XVI, the clergymen released a final statement in which they highlighted the need for the UN to take “the necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation of the different Arab territories.”
“The Palestinian people will thus have an independent and sovereign homeland where they can live with dignity and security,” they said, noting that Israel would in return be able to enjoy peace and security within its “internationally recognized borders.”
“The Holy City of [al-Quds] Jerusalem will be able to acquire its proper status, which respects its particular character, its holiness and the religious patrimony of the three religions: Jewish, Christian and Muslim,” said the statement, expressing hope that the two-state solution might become a reality.
The statement recalled Security Council resolutions requiring Israel to withdraw from territories occupied during the Six-Day War of 1967, including east al-Quds, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
The synod also said they “condemn violence and terrorism from wherever it may proceed as well as all religious extremism.”
“We condemn all forms of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Christianism and Islamophobia and we call upon the religions to assume their responsibility to promote dialogue between cultures and civilizations in our region and in the entire world.”
——–Agencies