At religious summit, pope decries
'murderous indifference' in Mideast
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[July 07, 2018]
By Philip Pullella
BARI, Italy (Reuters) - Pope Francis led a
summit of religious leaders demanding peace in the Middle East on
Saturday, condemning a "murderous indifference" he said is fanning
violence and sparking a an exodus of Christians.
Francis convened the summit in the southern Italian city of Bari that
for centuries has been a gateway to the Middle East and home to the
relics of St. Nicholas, a figure venerated in both the Western and
Eastern branches of Christianity.
In what was billed as an "admonition" opening a joint prayer service,
Francis spoke of "dark clouds of war, violence and destruction,
instances of occupation and varieties of fundamentalism, forced
migration and neglect".
He said: "All this has taken place amid the complicit silence of many."
While the pope did not name any specific place or protagonist in any
conflict, looming large in the background was the Syrian war, which has
killed hundreds of thousands of people and uprooted around 11 million
others, including 6 million abroad as refugees.
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St. Nicholas, who lived about 1,700 years ago in what is today Turkey,
is venerated among Orthodox Christians, including those in Russia, which
is Syria's ally in the civil war. The Russian Orthodox Church sent its
number two to the Bari meeting.
"Indifference kills, and we desire to lift up our voices in opposition
to this murderous indifference. We want to give a voice to those who
have none, to those who can only wipe away their tears," Francis said.
"For the Middle East today is weeping, suffering and silent as others
trample upon those lands in search of power or riches," he said,
speaking from a podium on the waterfront with about 20 other Christian
leaders, most of them from Orthodox Churches.
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![](../images/070718pics/news_p29.jpg)
Pope Francis lights a candle inside the cripta of the St. Nicholas
Basilica in Bari, southern Italy July 7, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile
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In a gesture to show their equality, the pope and key participants
including black-robed Orthodox leaders were driven together in a
tourist-style open-top bus from the 12th century Romanesque style
Basilica of St. Nicholas to the prayer service on the waterfront
facing east.
"Let us pray as one, begging the Lord of heaven for that peace which
the powerful of our world have not yet been able to find," the pope
said.
Prayers for peace in the Middle East were read in Italian, English,
Greek, Arabic, Armenian and Assyrian.
A special mention was made of the need for peace in Jerusalem, which
the pope called "the holy city beloved of God and wounded by men".
The status of the holy city is at the heart of a bitter conflict.
Israel says it is the country's united and eternal capital while
Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of any future state.
One of the topics at private meetings later was expected to be the
dwindling number of Christians in the Middle East, as many flee
conflicts and dire economic conditions.
Francis said their disappearance would lead to the "disfiguring the
very face of the region. For a Middle East without Christians would
not be the Middle East".
(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Alison Williams)
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