Francis’ words at the end of the dialogue with the patriarchs: “ No more occupying territories and thus tearing people apart! No more racing to stockpile new arms. War is the daughter of power and poverty”.
“Let there be an end to using the Middle East for gains that have nothing to do with the Middle East!”. At the end of the dialogue behind closed doors in the Basilica of St Nicholas in Bari, where the patriarchs of all the Churches of the Middle East discussed the situation in the region, Francis and his guests freed some doves as a sign of peace. The meeting opened by Pierbattista Pizzaballa, administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, who spoke of epochal-changing-topics- both political and religious - underway in the area. The devastation of recent wars, particularly in tortured Syria, and the role of the Christian Churches, which must abandon any “alliance” with the political powers and avoid relying on human and political strategies in the face of the hemorrhage that has caused more than half of Christian faithful to flee.
Before releasing the doves and concluding this unprecedented meeting, the Pope took the floor again, expressing his gratitude for the moment of sharing lived with the patriarchs. Bergoglio first of all recalled a fundamental aspect of the evangelical style: the presence of Christians in the Middle East will be all the more prophetic when it is peaceful and extraneous to the logics of the world.
Francis said: “Our way of being Church is also tempted by worldly attitudes, by a concern for power and profit, for quick and convenient solutions. Then too, there is the reality of our sinfulness, the disconnect between faith and life that obscures our witness. We sense our need for renewed conversion to the Gospel, the guarantee of authentic freedom, and our need to do so urgently, as the Middle East endures a night of agony. As in the agony of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, it will not be flight or the sword that will lead to the radiant dawn of Easter. Instead, it will be our gift of self, in imitation of the Lord”. It is a significant reminder not to leave, as well as not to invoke powerful armed “protectors”, which is based on historical evidence: the Christian faith that originated in the Middle East “ has won over human hearts down the centuries because it is bound not to the powers of this world, but to the unarmed power of the cross”.
Bergoglio then stressed that today’s dialogue “has been a sign of our need to pursue encounter and unity without being afraid of our differences. So it is with peace: it too must be cultivated in the parched soil of conflict and discord, because today, in spite of everything, there is no real alternative to peacemaking. Truces maintained by walls and displays of power will not lead to peace, but only the concrete desire to listen and to engage in dialogue”. Christians are committed to walking, praying and working together, in the hope that the art of encounter will prevail over strategies of conflict. In the hope that the display of threatening signs of power will yield to the power of signs”. Men and women of good will of different beliefs, unafraid of dialogue, open to the ideas of others and concerned for their good. Only in this way, by ensuring that no one lacks bread and work, dignity and hope, will the cries of war turn into songs of peace”. In order for this to happen, “ it is essential that those in power choose finally and decisively to work for true peace and not for their own interests. Let there be an end to the few profiting from the sufferings of many! No more occupying territories and thus tearing people apart! No more letting half-truths continue to frustrate people’s aspirations! Let there be an end to using the Middle East for gains that have nothing to do with the Middle East!”
Francis then added impromptu, “Let us think of the tortured Syria, particularly the Daraa province. There, bitter fighting has started yet again, resulting in a large number of displaced people, who were exposed to terrible suffering. War is the daughter of power and poverty...
Francis then denounced the “scourge” of war that “tragically assails this beloved region. The poor are its principal victims. Let us think only of war-torn Syria. War is the daughter of power and poverty. It is defeated by renouncing the thirst for supremacy and by eradicating poverty. So many conflicts have been stoked too by forms of fundamentalism and fanaticism that, under the guise of religion, have profaned God’s name – which is peace – and persecuted age-old neighbours”.
But violence “ is always fueled by weapons. You cannot speak of peace while you are secretly racing to stockpile new arms. This is a most serious responsibility weighing on the conscience of nations, especially the most powerful”.
“Let us not forget the last century - Let us not forget the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Let us not turn the Middle East, where the Word of peace sprang up, into dark stretches of silence. Let us have enough of stubborn opposition! Enough of the thirst for profit that surreptitiously exploits oil and gas fields without regard for our common home, with no scruples about the fact that energy market now dictates the law of coexistence among peoples!”
Francis asked that “every community be protected, not simply the majority”. And he invokes that “Christians too are, and ought to be, full citizens enjoying equal rights”. There is also a reference to Jerusalem, whose identity and vocation “must be safeguarded apart from various disputes and tensions, and whose status quo demands to be respected, as decided by the international community and repeatedly requested by the Christian communities of the Holy Land. Only “a negotiated solution between Israelis and Palestinians, firmly willed and promoted by the international community, will be able to lead to a stable and lasting peace, and guarantee the coexistence of two states for two peoples”.
The Pope also spoke of children, - let’s not forget children! - And thinking of the little ones, we will soon release, all together, and along with some dovesm, also our desire for peace. “In the Middle East, for years, an appalling number of young people mourn violent deaths in their families and see their native land threatened, often with their only prospect being that of flight. This is the death of hope. All too many children have spent most of their lives looking at rubble instead of schools, hearing the deafening explosion of bombs rather than the happy din of playgrounds. May humanity listen – this is my plea – to the cry of children, whose mouths proclaim the glory of God. Only by wiping away their tears will the world recover its dignity. May the Middle East, Francis concludes, “ no longer be an ark of war lying between continents, but an ark of peace that welcomes peoples of different backgrounds and beliefs.
At the end of his speech, the Pope and the patriarchs together hopped on the bus to the archbishopric for lunch. At the long white table, decorated with some flowers, Francis sits between the Coptic Pope Tawadros II and the Archbishop of Bari Francesco Cacucci, in front of the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew. At 3.30pm, the Pontiff will take leave of his guests, some of whom will still remain in Bari, and before boarding the helicopter he will greet the authorities. The return to the Vatican is expected around 5:00pm.
