From the Holy Land, Bishops Call for Peace
"Security for Israel Is Linked
to Justice for Palestinians" (January 20, 2006)
JERUSALEM, JAN. 20, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is the
communiqué issued Thursday at the conclusion of the
meeting of the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the
Church of the Holy Land and the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the
Holy Land.
* * *
A call for peace with justice for all people and the three faiths of
the Holy Land was issued by Catholic bishops today. Bishops of the
Coordination of Bishops' Conferences in Support of the Holy Land made
this call at the conclusion of a pastoral visit, hosted by the Assembly
of Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land. The Coordination is an
_expression of the Universal Church's support of the local Church.
As Catholic bishops we came to the Holy Land to be in communion and
solidarity with the people and the bishops of the Mother Church as we
walk with them on the path to peace, justice and reconciliation.
We are deeply grateful to the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of
the Holy Land for hosting our visit. We came as pilgrims in prayer,
praying for the welfare of the Church and all peoples in the Holy Land.
This visit was the sixth for the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences
in Support of the Church in the Holy Land. The Coordination represents
the Council of European Bishops' Conferences, the Commission of Bishops
Conferences of the European Union, and Catholic Bishops' conferences
from Austria, Canada, England and Wales, France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland and the United States of America.
Once again we witnessed the vibrant faith of the Church at worship and
in service to the people through many Church institutions. We took part
in a children's parade and Christmas celebration. Many schoolchildren
had traveled long hours through security checkpoints to come to
Bethlehem for the first time.
We met with youth in Ramallah and learned of their work. We also
celebrated Mass and visited with Hebrew-speaking Catholics and with
parishes in Aboud, Nablus, Ramallah, Taybeh, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
We prayed together and listened to the testimonies of local people and
bishops who shared the struggles of the Church in a difficult social
and political reality.
As pastors we again call upon the faithful in our nations to remember
the Church in the Holy Land in prayer, to come here on pilgrimage, to
support generously the Church's institutions here, and to promote
initiatives to bring peace and justice to all the peoples of the Land.
Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the Church's mission of peace in his address
to the diplomatic corps earlier this month.
We echo the Holy Father's admonition regarding the Holy Land: "There
the state of Israel has to be able to exist peacefully in conformity
with the norms of international law; there equally, the Palestinian
people has to be able to develop serenely in its own democratic
institutions for a free and prosperous future."
Our pastoral concerns for the local Church lead us to share the fears
and sufferings as well as the joys and hopes of the people. We
recognize the legitimate right for Israel to take appropriate security
measures, but all such measures should protect the dignity, human
rights, lands and water of the Palestinian people. We have witnessed
the hardship and poverty suffered by Palestinians as a direct result of
checkpoints and the wall that impair economic development and freedom
of movement. Security for Israel is linked to justice for Palestinians.
We do not wield political power, but we issue a moral call to public
authorities to work for a just peace. Borrowing the image used by Pope
John Paul II, together we must build bridges and not walls. We must
work for a just peace that recognizes the human rights of all: security
for Israel; freedom for the Palestinians; two viable states and three
faiths living side by side in peace.
We will encourage our respective communities and governments to help
create a just resolution of the conflict so that each individual across
the Holy Land can live in dignity and fulfill his or her human
potential. For the first time our Coordination visited the Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan. We met with King Abdullah II of Jordan. We discussed
the importance of the Christian presence in the Holy Land, the hope for
a just peace and his invitation to work together. We celebrated the
Eucharist with a parish in Madaba, visited holy sites in Jordan, and
learned of the many ways that the Catholic Church serves both Muslims
and Christians in Jordan, particularly in education and health care.
The vitality of the local Catholic Church in Jordan testifies to the
importance of security, stability and respect for human rights and
religious freedom. Our pilgrimage took us to the top of Mount Nebo,
where Moses viewed the Promised Land, a land for which we pray for the
promise of peace. From there we visited the baptismal site of Jesus at
Bethany beyond the Jordan, where we were inspired by the presence of
thousands of Orthodox pilgrims.
Our prayer is that the waters of justice will flow throughout this
Land. The difficult situation in the Holy Land does not lead us to
optimism but our faith and our encounters with young people lead us to
hope in a new beginning. We pray for the flourishing of the Mother
Church and for the flowering of peace with justice for all peoples and
the three faiths of this Land we call Holy.
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