As Christian seem to rejoice at the US-Jerusalem capital issue, I hope we take a minute to consider a option for peace in the middle east instead of religious rightism. here are the popes thought.




Francis’ words at the end of the dialogue with the patriarchs: “No more occupying territories and thus tearing people apart! No more racing to stockpile new arms. War is the daughter of power and poverty”.


“Let there be an end to using the Middle East for gains that have nothing to do with the Middle East!”. At the end of the dialogue behind closed doors in the Basilica of St Nicholas in Bari, where the patriarchs of all the Churches of the Middle East discussed the situation in the region, Francis and his guests freed some doves as a sign of peace. The meeting opened by Pierbattista Pizzaballa, administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, who spoke of epochal-changing-topics- both political and religious - underway in the area. The devastation of recent wars, particularly in tortured Syria, and the role of the Christian Churches, which must abandon any “alliance” with the political powers and avoid relying on human and political strategies in the face of the hemorrhage that has caused more than half of Christian faithful to flee.

Before releasing the doves and concluding this
unprecedented meeting, the Pope took the floor again,
expressing his gratitude for the moment of sharing lived
with the patriarchs. Bergoglio first of all recalled a
fundamental aspect of the evangelical style: the presence of Christians in the Middle East will be all the more prophetic when it is peaceful and extraneous to the logics of the world.

Francis said: “Our way of being Church is also tempted
by worldly attitudes, by a concern for power and profit,
for quick and convenient solutions. Then too, there is the
reality of our sinfulness, the disconnect between faith
and life that obscures our witness. We sense our need
for renewed conversion to the Gospel, the guarantee of
authentic freedom, and our need to do so urgently, as
the Middle East endures a night of agony. As in the
agony of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, it will not
be flight or the sword that will lead to the radiant dawn
of Easter. Instead, it will be our gift of self, in imitation of
the Lord”. It is a significant reminder not to leave, as well
as not to invoke powerful armed “protectors”, which is
based on historical evidence: the Christian faith that
originated in the Middle East “ has won over human
hearts down the centuries because it is bound not to the
powers of this world, but to the unarmed power of the
cross”.

Bergoglio then stressed that today’s dialogue “has been
a sign of our need to pursue encounter and unity without
being afraid of our differences. So it is with peace: it too
must be cultivated in the parched soil of conflict and
discord, because today, in spite of everything, there is
no real alternative to peacemaking. Truces maintained by
walls and displays of power will not lead to peace, but
only the concrete desire to listen and to engage in
dialogue”. Christians are committed to walking, praying
and working together, in the hope that the art of
encounter will prevail over strategies of conflict. In the
hope that the display of threatening signs of power will
yield to the power of signs”. Men and women of good
will of different beliefs, unafraid of dialogue, open to the
ideas of others and concerned for their good. Only in this
way, by ensuring that no one lacks bread and work,
dignity and hope, will the cries of war turn into songs of
peace”. In order for this to happen, “ it is essential that
those in power choose finally and decisively to work for
true peace and not for their own interests. Let there be
an end to the few profiting from the sufferings of many!
No more occupying territories and thus tearing people
apart! No more letting half-truths continue to frustrate
people’s aspirations! Let there be an end to using the
Middle East for gains that have nothing to do with the
Middle East!”

Francis then added impromptu, “Let us think of the
tortured Syria, particularly the Daraa province. There, bitter fighting has started yet again, resulting in a large number of displaced people, who were exposed to terrible suffering. War is the daughter of power and poverty...

Francis then denounced the “scourge” of war that
“tragically assails this beloved region. The poor are its
principal victims. Let us think only of war-torn Syria. War
is the daughter of power and poverty. It is defeated by
renouncing the thirst for supremacy and by eradicating
poverty. So many conflicts have been stoked too by forms of fundamentalism and fanaticism that, under the guise of religion, have profaned God’s name – which is peace – and persecuted age-old neighbours”.
But violence “ is always fueled by weapons. You cannot speak of peace while you are secretly racing to stockpile new arms. This is a most serious responsibility weighing on the conscience of nations, especially the most powerful”.

“Let us not forget the last century - Let us not forget the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Let us not turn the
Middle East, where the Word of peace sprang up, into dark stretches of silence. Let us have enough of stubborn opposition! Enough of the thirst for profit that surreptitiously exploits oil and gas fields without regard for our common home, with no scruples about the fact that energy market now dictates the law of coexistence among peoples!”

Francis asked that “every community be protected, not
simply the majority”. And he invokes that “Christians too are, and ought to be, full citizens enjoying equal rights”.
There is also a reference to Jerusalem, whose identity
and vocation “must be safeguarded apart from various
disputes and tensions, and whose status quo demands to be respected, as decided by the international community and repeatedly requested by the Christian communities of the Holy Land. Only “a negotiated solution between Israelis and Palestinians, firmly willed and promoted by the international community, will be able to lead to a stable and lasting peace, and guarantee the coexistence of two states for two peoples”.

The Pope also spoke of children, - let’s not forget children! - And thinking of the little ones, we will soon release, all together, and along with some dovesm, also
our desire for peace. “In the Middle East, for years, an
appalling number of young people mourn violent deaths
in their families and see their native land threatened,
often with their only prospect being that of flight. This is the death of hope. All too many children have spent
most of their lives looking at rubble instead of schools,
hearing the deafening explosion of bombs rather than
the happy din of playgrounds. May humanity listen –
this is my plea – to the cry of children, whose mouths
proclaim the glory of God. Only by wiping away their
tears will the world recover its dignity. May the Middle
East, Francis concludes, “ no longer be an ark of war
lying between continents, but an ark of peace that
welcomes peoples of different backgrounds and beliefs.
At the end of his speech, the Pope and the patriarchs
together hopped on the bus to the archbishopric for
lunch. At the long white table, decorated with some
flowers, Francis sits between the Coptic Pope Tawadros
II and the Archbishop of Bari Francesco Cacucci, in front of the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew. At 3.30p.m., the Pontiff will take leave of his guests, some of
whom will still remain in Bari, and before boarding the
helicopter he will greet the authorities. The return to the Vatican is expected around 5 pm.

http://en.abouna.org/content/pope“let-us-not-turn-middle-east-dark-stretches-silence-hiroshima”

Russia and America (USA) always using any weak country they choose to play war games.

Evil people.

1stola:
Russia and America (USA) always using any weak country they choose to play war games.

Evil people.

it is politics for them while lives are been lost, the other silly part are those following the war mongers because of religious fanaticism.
funny rhetoric like "Jerusalem is the permanent capital of Israel", " it is Muslim territory" etc, forgetting the historic background of the city and the different peoples that rightly call her home