Middle East: CCEE-CEC, “no to violence, solidarity with those promoting peace”

“We stand in solidarity with those in Israel and in Palestine who work to promote peace and we affirm that violence cannot be a way to defend a cause”, the CCEE-CEC Joint Committee stated in a declaration on the situation in the Middle East, released at the end of a three-day meeting in Belgrade. “We demand the entire international community to mobilise and uphold the international law, in particular the UN resolutions, with the aim of opening serious negotiations to create a lasting peace, in truth and justice”. The delegation of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) was led by its President Nikitas, Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain, and that of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) by its President Gintaras Grušas, Archbishop of Vilnius. “We invite the faithful of our Churches to pray for all those who are suffering, and we invoke God’s mercy for all, remembering that we are all members of the one common humanity”, they said. “We also pray and hope that those in authority over nations engage in a genuine dialogue that will uphold the human dignity of all and make a peaceful coexistence of the two peoples in two States possible”.
Valentina Bombelli