VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 229   
   DATE 23-12-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - Francis: must the Middle East suffer the lack of peace?   
   - Notice   
      
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    Francis: must the Middle East suffer the lack of peace?   
    Vatican City, 23 December 2014 (VIS) - Pope Francis has written a letter to   
   Christians in the Middle East to mark the occasion of Christmas, aware that   
   for many of them "the music of [their] Christmas hymns will also be   
   accompanied by tears and sighs". The Holy Father comments on the conflicts   
   that continue to afflict a part of the world that has long experienced trials   
   and tribulations, and that is now further tormented by terrorism on an   
   unprecedented scale "which has perpetrated all kinds of abuses and inhuman   
   acts", compelling other ethnic and religious groups to abandon their homelands   
   where they have "the duty and the right to take full part in the life and   
   progress" of their nations. He also underlines the central role of Christians   
   in the East in the life of the Church, which needs the support and prayer of   
   all the ecclesial community, and he launches a renewed appeal to the   
   international community to promote a global solution to the problems of the   
   region. "How much longer", he asks, "must the Middle East suffer from the lack   
   of peace?".   
    The full text of the letter is published here below:   
    "Dear brothers and sisters: 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus   
   Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all consolation, who consoles us in   
   all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any   
   affliction, with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God'.   
    When I thought of writing to you, our Christian brothers and sisters in the   
   Middle East, these words of Saint Paul immediately came to mind. I write to   
   you just before Christmas, knowing that for many of you the music of your   
   Christmas hymns will also be accompanied by tears and sighs. Nonetheless, the   
   birth of the Son of God in our human flesh is an indescribable mystery of   
   consolation: 'For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all   
   people'.   
    Sadly, afflictions and tribulations have not been lacking, even more   
   recently, in the Middle East. They have been aggravated in the past months   
   because of the continuing hostilities in the region, but especially because of   
   the work of a newer and disturbing terrorist organisation, of previously   
   unimaginable dimensions, which has perpetrated all kinds of abuses and inhuman   
   acts. It has particularly affected a number of you, who have been brutally   
   driven out of your native lands, where Christians have been present since   
   apostolic times.   
    Nor, in writing to you, can I remain silent about the members of other   
   religious and ethnic groups who are also experiencing persecution and the   
   effects of these conflicts. Every day I follow the new reports of the enormous   
   suffering endured by many people in the Middle East. I think in particular of   
   the children, the young mothers, the elderly, the homeless and all refugees,   
   the starving and those facing the prospect of a hard winter without an   
   adequate shelter. This suffering cries out to God and it calls for our   
   commitment to prayer and concrete efforts to help in any way possible. I want   
   to express to all of you my personal closeness and solidarity, as well as that   
   of the whole Church, and to offer you a word of consolation and hope.   
    Dear brothers and sisters who courageously bear witness to Jesus in the land   
   blessed by the Lord, our consolation and our hope is Christ himself. I   
   encourage you, then, to remain close to him, like branches on the vine, in the   
   certainty that no tribulation, distress or persecution can separate us from   
   him. May the trials which you are presently enduring strengthen the faith and   
   the fidelity of each and all of you.   
    I pray that you will be able to experience a fraternal communion modelled on   
   that of the first community of Jerusalem. The unity willed by our Lord is more   
   necessary than ever at these difficult times; it is a gift from God, who   
   appeals to our freedom and awaits our response. May the word of God, the   
   sacraments, prayer and fellowship nourish and continually renew your   
   communities.   
    The situation in which are you living is a powerful summons to holiness of   
   life, as saints and martyrs of every Christian community have attested. I   
   think with affection and veneration of the pastors and faithful who have   
   lately been killed, often merely for the fact that they were Christians. I   
   think also of those who have been kidnapped, including several Orthodox   
   bishops and priests of various rites. May they soon return, safe and sound, to   
   their homes and communities! I ask God to grant that all this suffering united   
   to the Lord's cross will bring about much good for the Church and for all the   
   peoples in the Middle East.   
    In the midst of hostility and conflicts, the communion which you experience   
   in fraternity and simplicity is a sign of God's Kingdom. I am gratified by the   
   good relations and cooperation which exist between the patriarchs of the   
   Eastern Catholic Churches and those of the Orthodox Churches, and also between   
   the faithful of the different Churches. The sufferings which Christians endure   
   contribute immensely to the cause of unity. It is the ecumenism of blood,   
   which demands a trusting abandonment to the working of the Holy Spirit.   
    May you always bear witness to Jesus amid your difficulties! Your very   
   presence is precious for the Middle East. You are a small flock, but one with   
   a great responsibility in the land where Christianity was born and first   
   spread. You are like leaven in the dough. Even more than the many   
   contributions which the Church makes in the areas of education, healthcare and   
   social services, which are esteemed by all, the greatest source of enrichment   
   in the region is the presence of Christians themselves, your presence. Thank   
   you for your perseverance!   
    Your efforts to cooperate with people of other religions, with Jews and   
   Muslims, is another sign of the Kingdom of God. The more difficult the   
   situation, the more interreligious dialogue becomes necessary. There is no   
   other way. Dialogue, grounded in an attitude of openness, in truth and love,   
   is also the best antidote to the temptation to religious fundamentalism, which   
   is a threat for followers of every religion. At the same time, dialogue is a   
   service to justice and a necessary condition for the peace which all so   
   ardently desire.   
    The majority of you live in environments which are predominantly Muslim. You   
   can help your Muslim fellow citizens to present with discernment a more   
   authentic image of Islam, as so many of them desire, reiterating that Islam is   
   a religion of peace, one which is compatible with respect for human rights and   
   favours peaceful coexistence on the part of all. This will prove beneficial   
   for them and for all society. The tragic situation faced by our Christian   
   brothers and sisters in Iraq, as well as by the Yazidi and members of other   
   religious and ethnic communities, demands that all religious leaders clearly   
   speak out to condemn these crimes unanimously and unambiguously, and to   
   denounce the practice of invoking religion in order to justify them.   
    Dear brothers and sisters, almost all of you are native citizens of your   
   respective countries, and as such you have the duty and the right to take full   
   part in the life and progress of your nations. Within the region you are   
   called to be artisans of peace, reconciliation and development, to promote   
   dialogue, to build bridges in the spirit of the Beatitudes, and to proclaim   
   the Gospel of peace, in a spirit of ready cooperation with all national and   
   international authorities.   
    In a special way I would like to express my esteem and gratitude to you, dear   
   brother patriarchs, bishops, priests, and men and women religious, who   
   accompany the journey of your communities with loving concern. How valuable is   
   the presence and work of those completely consecrated to the Lord, serving him   
   in their brothers and sisters, especially those in greatest need, and thus   
   witnessing to his grandeur and his infinite love! How important is the   
   presence of pastors in the midst of their flocks, especially in times of   
   trouble!   
    To the young I send a paternal embrace. I pray for your faithfulness, your   
   human and Christian development, and the attainment of your hopes and dreams.   
   I repeat to you: 'Do not be afraid or ashamed to be Christian. Your   
   relationship with Jesus will help you to cooperate generously with your fellow   
   citizens, whatever their religious affiliation'.   
    To the elderly I express my respect and esteem. You are the memory of your   
   peoples. I pray that this memory will become a seed which can grow and benefit   
   generations yet to come.   
    I wish to encourage all of you who work in the very important fields of   
   charity and education. I admire the work you do, especially through Caritas   
   and other Catholic charitable organisations in the different countries, in   
   providing help to anyone who asks, without discrimination. Through this   
   witness of charity you help support the life of society and you contribute to   
   the peace for which the region hungers as if for bread. Education too is   
   critical for the future of society. How important it is for promoting the   
   culture of encounter, respect for the dignity of each person and the absolute   
   value of every human being!   
    Dear brothers and sisters, even though you may not be numerous, you play a   
   significant role in the Church and in the countries where you live. The entire   
   Church is close to you and supports you, with immense respect and affection   
   for your communities and your mission. We will continue to assist you with our   
   prayers and with every other means at our disposal.   
    At the same time I continue to urge the international community to address   
   your needs and those of other suffering minorities, above all by promoting   
   peace through negotiation and diplomacy, for the sake of stemming and stopping   
   as soon as possible the violence which has already caused so much harm. I once   
   more condemn in the strongest possible terms the traffic of arms. Instead,   
   what are needed are plans and initiatives for peace, so as to further a global   
   solution to the region's problems. How much longer must the Middle East suffer   
   from the lack of peace? We must not resign ourselves to conflicts as if change   
   were not possible! In the spirit of my pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the   
   subsequent prayer meeting in the Vatican with the Israeli and Palestinian   
   presidents, I encourage you to continue to pray for peace in the Middle East.   
   May those forced to leave their lands be able to return and to live in dignity   
   and security. May humanitarian aid increase and always have as its central   
   concern the good of each individual and each country, respecting their   
   identity and without any other agendas. May the entire Church and the   
   international community become ever more conscious of the importance of your   
   presence in the region.   
    Dear Christian brothers and sisters of the Middle East, you have an enormous   
   responsibility and in meeting it you are not alone. That is why I wanted to   
   write to you, to encourage you and to let you know how precious your presence   
   and your mission are in the land which the Lord has blessed. Your witness   
   means much to me! Thank you! I pray for you and your intentions every day. I   
   thank you because I know that, amid your sufferings, you also pray for me and   
   for my service to the Church. I do hope to have the chance to come to you in   
   person and to visit and to comfort you. May the Virgin Mary, the All-Holy   
   Mother of God and our Mother, accompany you and protect you always with her   
   tender love. To all of you and your families I impart my Apostolic Blessing,   
   and I pray that your celebration of Christmas will be filled with the love and   
   peace of Christ our Saviour".   
      
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    Notice   
    Vatican City, 23 December 2014 (VIS) - The Vatican Information Service wishes   
   its readers a happy and holy Christmas. During the Christmas holiday there   
   will be no VIS bulletin from 24 to 28 December. The next bulletin will be   
   transmitted on Monday 29 December.   
      
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