On July 12, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, gave an intervention during the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on “The Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question.”
In his statement, Archbishop Auza mentioned the July 1st “Report on the Middle East” by the Quartet on the Middle East comprised of the United Nations, the United States, the Russian Federation and the European Union and said it was time to act on its recommendations to bring peace and security to the citizens of Israel and of the State of Palestine. He called attention to the ongoing persecution of Christians in the remnants of Syria and Iraq and repeated Pope Francis’ words talking about the duplicity of calling for peace on the one hand and promoting the sale or giving of arms to those in the region on the other. Peace requires focus on development, not guns; on dialogue, not weapons. He also urged strengthening the relationship between faith-based “informal diplomacy” and the formal diplomacy of States and multilateral international bodies. Finally he called on religious believers and leaders to end all forms of mutual hatred that could lend credence to a “clash of civilizations” and to condemn and combat efforts to hijack religion to justify terror and violence.
His statement can be found here.
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