As the world has been on edge over the prospect of yet another war Pope Francis called on all Christians, Muslims, Jews and people of good will to join in prayer and fasting for peace. The Syrian civil war has killed an estimated 110,000 people since it broke out in March 2011 and the U.N. estimates over 2 million refugees have fled to other countries.
Pope Francis reminded the world that “all men and women of good will are bound by the task of pursuing peace. I make a forceful and urgent call to the entire Catholic Church, and also to every Christian of other confessions, as well as to followers of every religion and to those brothers and sisters who do not believe: peace is a good which overcomes every barrier, because it belongs to all of humanity!”
Pope Francis told the tens of thousands people who gathered for prayer in St. Peter’s Square in Rome that “war always marks the failure of peace, it is always a defeat for humanity.” Throughout the world people gathered in churches, mosques and synagogues to pray for peace.
Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the leading prelate in the Orthodox world, called on all Orthodox throughout the world to join in the Sept. 7 day of prayer and fasting. “We, too, shall heed the call from our brother in Christ Francis to pray for this purpose as we have always done since the start of the bloody conflict in Syria,” said the Ecumenical Patriarch.
The Christian leaders of the Eastern Churches joined in Pope Francis’ call, remarking that his appeal “finds a way into everyone’s heart at all levels. The Christian communities in Syria, the Middle East and in the diaspora are happy and ready to join in fasting and prayer.”
The Maronite Patriarch in Beirut, Cardinal Bechara Rai and the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Youhanna Yazigi, said they were “deeply comforted by the pope’s appeal,” and pledged to continue “building a society based on respect, love, cooperation with others.”
The appeal has been particularly well received by Christian minorities in the Middle East, where these often divided leaders have been united in their concern about a possible spread of the Syrian conflict and the rise of a more radical Islam.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, reflecting on his recent visit to the Holy Land said that there had been an “overwhelming” and “terrible sense of fear” about what might happen in an attack leading to a “sense that this is terribly, terribly dangerous time.” He added, “Certainly when I was there in June and I think it has got worse since then I can scarcely remember a time of being in meetings where there was such a sense of apprehension, I mean it was tangible, this sense of what will happen.”
The Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, World Council of Churches general secretary, said, “We join the call of Pope Francis for dedicated prayer and work for peace in Syria, with a particular emphasis on Saturday, Sept. 7.”
Pope Francis met with representatives from the World Jewish Congress to wish them a “Happy New Year,” “Shana Tova.” At the meeting Pope Francis spoke to WJC president, Ronal S. Lauder about the ongoing situation in Syria and agreed to speak out together against the attacks on religious minorities, such as Coptic Christians. The Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni said that the Jews of Italy were “in harmony” with the Vatican on Syria.
Syria’s Sunni Muslim leader, Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, called on all Muslims in Syria to join the prayers for peace “in communion and simultaneously with the pope.” In France, Muslim members at the Great Mosque of Paris held prayers in solidarity with the pope. Ridwan Al-Sayyid, a Muslim expert on Islam and former professor at Harvard and the University of Chicago said, “The pope’s Day of Prayer for Syria is fundamental to open the door to a peaceful solution, in lieu of military action that would increase even more the suffering of the peoples of Syria and Lebanon.”
May our prayers for peace and harmony be granted to all his children.
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