Pope: May the States of Palestine and Israel live side by side
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
"Every day I pray that this war will finally end..." Pope Francis said during an event commemorating the historic "Invocation for Peace" in the Vatican Gardens ten years ago.
And speaking in the shade of the olive tree planted, on that occasion, by the then-President of the State of Israel, Shimon Peres; the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas; and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, he called for prayers to ask the Lord "that the leaders of nations and the parties in conflict may find the way to peace and unity."
"All of us must work and commit ourselves to achieving a lasting peace, where the State of Palestine and the State of Israel can live side by side, breaking down the walls of enmity and hatred. We must all cherish Jerusalem so that it will become the city of fraternal encounter among Christians, Jews and Muslims, protected by a special internationally guaranteed status," he said.
Renewed commitment
During the historic event on 8 June 2014, the Pope said, "It calls for the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict: yes to dialogue and no to violence; yes to negotiations and no to hostilities." Earlier that same year, the Holy Father had made a 24-26 May pilgrimage on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the meeting between Pope St. Paul VI and then-Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem, during which - as he recalled again on Friday - he had expressed "a great desire that these two leaders might meet, in order to carry out a significant and historic gesture of dialogue and peace."
He went on to day, "At a time marked by tragic conflicts, there is need for a renewed commitment to building a peaceful world". He then appealed "to all, believers and people of goodwill," saying, "Let us not cease to dream of peace and to build relationships of peace!"
Commemorating the event with the Pope in the Vatican Gardens on Friday evening were Rabbi Alberto Funaro; Abdellah Redouane, Secretary General of the Italian Islamic Cultural Centre; and the ambassadors of the States of Israel and Palestine to the Holy See.
Let's stop deceiving ourselves
In his remarks on Friday, the Holy Father said we are only "deceiving ourselves" when we think that "war can resolve problems and bring about peace," and instead warned that "we need to be vigilant and critical towards an ideology that is unfortunately dominant today, which claims that conflict, violence, and breakdown are part of the normal functioning of a society.”
Expressing his plea to all to work for a lasting peace that will allow the States of Palestine and Israel "to live side by side", he called on all actors to "cherish Jerusalem" so that "it will become the city of fraternal encounter among Christians, Jews, and Muslims, protected by a special internationally guaranteed status."
Stop bloodshed in Gaza
The Pope said he thinks of all who suffer in Israel and Palestine - Christians, Jews, and Muslims - as he renewed his appeals for a ceasefire to end the carnage in Gaza and to release Israeli hostages.
"I think of how urgent it is that, from the rubble of Gaza a decision to stop the weapons will finally arise," he said. And, remembering the families of the Israeli hostages, he asked "that they be released as soon as possible."
He also called for the protection of the Palestinian population, that they may "receive all necessary humanitarian aid," and that the homes of the countless numbers of those displaced due to the fighting be rebuilt as soon as possible, "so that they can return to them in peace."
Keeping hope for a new day
In a special way, the Holy Father promised to remain close Palestinians and Israelis, who, amid their tears and suffering, "continue to hope for the coming of a new day and strive to bring forth the dawn of a peaceful world."
With this sentiment, the Holy Father asked the Lord, in His mercy, to listen to the prayer of those gathered, and grant the gift of peace.
"Indeed, peace is not made only by written agreements or by human and political compromises," he said. Rather, it "is born from transformed hearts, and arises when each of us has encountered and been touched by God’s love, which dissolves our selfishness, shatters our prejudices and grants us the taste and joy of friendship, fraternity and mutual solidarity."
"There can be no peace," he cautioned, "if we do not let God Himself first disarm our hearts, making them hospitable, compassionate, and merciful."
Embrace of peace
Dreaming of peace, the Pope said, gives us the unexpected joy of feeling ourselves to be a part of the one human family. He recalled the meeting, during his pastoral visit to Verona, of an Israeli and Palestinian, both fathers who had lost children in the war, but who nonetheless embraced each other in front of everyone.
"This is what Israel and Palestine need: an embrace of peace!"
The Holy Father invited those present to join him in imploring the Lord's intercession, so that "the leaders of nations, and the parties in conflict may find the way to peace and unity." And he asked those present to recite the prayer (below) that was prayed at the invocation a decade ago.
Prayer for Peace
8 June 2014
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
We have tried so many times
and over so many years
to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms.
How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced;
how much blood has been shed;
how many lives have been shattered;
how many hopes have been buried…
But our efforts have been in vain.
Now, Lord, come to our aid!
Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace.
Open our eyes and our hearts,
and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”;
“With war, everything is lost”.
Instil in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.
Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love,
you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters.
Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace;
enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister.
Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens
who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace,
our trepidation into confident trust,
and our quarreling into forgiveness.
Keep alive within us the flame of hope,
so that with patience and perseverance
we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation.
In this way may peace triumph at last,
and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war”
be banished from the heart of every man and woman.
Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands.
Renew our hearts and minds,
so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”,
and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam!
Amen.
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