Catholic World News

Church leaders in Holy Land plead for end to violence in Gaza

July 22, 2014

The apostolic nuncio in the Holy Land has repeated the call of Pope Francis for an end to the violence in Gaza, and the retired Latin-rite Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem has denounced the bloodshed as a “massacre.”

Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, the papal representative in Jerusalem, said that the loss of life in Gaza is “not acceptable,” adding that “stakeholders must be helped and should be brought to the negotiating table.” He reported that the Pope’s call for peace had been echoed throughout the local media.

Former Patriarch Michel Sabbah, meanwhile, charged that the military offensive in Gaza, which has produced more than 580 casualties, “will not advance Israel one step toward peace and security.” The latest conflict will only cause new animosity and new calls for reprisals, he said. Archbishop Twal argued that decades of reliance on warfare have produced nothing approaching a solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, and “the means to achieve peace can only be a means of peace.” Archbishop Twal said that peace will be possible only with an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. But he voiced his doubt that the current Israeli leadership would take that step, saying that they “believe only in military force.”

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