Xmas sermons call for ME peace
2006-12-25 18:06
Bethlehem - The world's Christian leaders on Monday used their Christmas sermons to urge an end to bloodshed in the Middle East amid protracted stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem urged Middle East leaders to become "peacemakers" as the pope used his Christmas message to appeal for a "just and lasting peace" throughout the troubled region.
"Christmas has come this year in difficult circumstances, made even worse by internal (Palestinian) squabbles," Patriarch Michel Sabbah said in his sermon at the chapel beside the Church of the Nativity marking the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
"The fratricidal struggle is leading toward more deaths and a new slavery that we are imposing on ourselves," said the first Palestinian to become Latin patriarch of Jerusalem.
Pope wants peace in ME and Iraq
"With deep apprehension I think, on this festive day, of the Middle East, marked by so many grave crises and conflicts," said Pope Benedict XVI during his traditional Christmas "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message.
"I express my hope that the way will be opened to a just and lasting peace, with respect for the inalienable rights of the peoples living there," he said from the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica.
"I place in the hands of the divine Child of Bethlehem the indications of a resumption of dialogue between the Israelis and Palestinians, which we have witnessed in recent days, and the hope of further encouraging developments," the 79-year-old pontiff added.
Benedict made an equally strong appeal for peace in Iraq.
"I appeal to all those who hold in their hands the fate of Iraq, that there will be an end to the brutal violence that has brought so much bloodshed to the country, and that every one of its inhabitants will be safe to lead a normal life," he said.
The pope also spoke of his hope that "a democratic Lebanon, open to others and in dialogue with different cultures and religions, will survive and progress".
Archbishop of Canterbury
The leader of the world's Anglicans, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spoke of his recent visit to the region and likened the troubles there to those facing all humankind.
He said it was "chilling" that neither Palestinians nor Israelis were hopeful of an imminent political settlement, despite Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert meeting this week.
"The tragedies of the Holy Land are not the problems of exotic barbarians far away.
"They are signs of the underlying tragedies that cripple all human life, individual and collective," he said in his Christmas Day sermon at Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England.