No more fighting!

The 10th visit of the Coordination of the bishops of the USA and EU in support of the Holy Land ended in Jerusalem on 14 January. The final communiqué was presented at a press conference held in the seat of the Latin Patriarchate. It takes its cue from the last words of Benedict XVI, pronounced at Tel Aviv on 15 May 2009, before his return to Italy after a journey that had taken through Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories. “No more bloodshed! No more fighting! No more terrorism! No more war!”.The courage to take decisions. In their communiqué the bishops recall that the two-state solution called for by the Pope “does not seem any closer. Many express a desire for peace, but what is needed is a commitment to justice that secures peace. The solutions are well known to leaders, but what is needed is political will and courage”. As the Pope recalled, this solution recognizes that “the State of Israel has the right to exist, and to enjoy peace and security within internationally agreed borders” and that “the Palestinian people have the right to a sovereign independent homeland, to live with dignity and to travel freely”. But this solution is threatened – note the bishops – by “violence, insecurity, home demolitions, permit and visa problems, the route of the wall, expropriation of lands and other policies”. The communiqué also laments the “growing distance between Israelis and Palestinians – a lack of human contact that undermines trust and dialogue”. The bishops also encourage “the full implementation of the Fundamental Agreement and the facilitation of visas for pastoral workers to enable the Church to fulfil its mission”. “The deteriorating situation – the statement continues – is not good for Israelis, Palestinians, the region and the world”. “Through our efforts – says the Coordination – we hope to focus the eyes of Catholics around the world on what happens here”. Praying for the Church and a just peace in the Holy Land. “We call upon the faithful in our nations to pray for the Church in the Holy Land, for a just peace and for the success of the forthcoming Synod of the Middle East. […] We encourage our people to learn about the situation and to come on pilgrimage to witness the vibrant faith of the ‘living stones’ of the local Church. We urge them to support public officials who take courageous initiatives for a just resolution of the conflict”. In the current situation – conclude the bishops of the USA and EU – it is difficult to sustain hope. “but as Christians we were all born with Jesus Christ in Bethlehem; we all died and rise to new life in Jerusalem. Despite the wounds of this land, love and hope are alive. Peace with justice is within reach, but political leaders and all people of goodwill need courage to achieve it”. The members of the Coordination included for the first time this year the General Secretary of the Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE), Father Duarte Da Cunha. “The communiqué – he explained to SIR Europe – sums up the concerns of the American and European Churches represented here on the situation that people are experiencing on the territory, marked by a wall that has devastated not only the urban fabric of Jerusalem, but also the social and human fabric, dividing families, removing chances for employment, medical treatment and so forth. The local Church is suffering all this especially because it sees many of its children forced to leave this land which risks becoming a museum, while those that remain are deprived of stable prospects and a secure future”. That’s why occasions such as this of the Coordination are essential to recount what is really happening in the Holy Land. “I saw the wall but also a vibrant, sharing and moving local community if one thinks of the situation in which it is forced to express its own faith. And it is more than ever useful also for our faithful to think, in the course of pilgrimages to the Holy Land, of meetings and exchanges with these communities, both spiritual and charitable”.