wfn.org | Statement by Presiding Bishop Edmon

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

April 3, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-1730
Statement by Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning of the Episcopal
Church, April 3, 1997

The Urgent Struggle for an Enduring Peace

The Middle East, the Holy Land, the home of our faith and still home to
more than 10 million Christians, is poised on the brink of an uncertain
future. Its people are searching for a future that could be based either
upon the hope for justice and loving coexistence or one that will bow to
past antagonisms and an endless cycle of violence and discord. 

After my visit to the region--to attend a meeting of Anglican Primates in
Jerusalem and to travel to Gaza and the West Bank, Cyprus, Lebanon
and Syria--I am more convinced than ever that it is critical for the
international community to support those who are working for a peaceful
future.

Perhaps no two cities capture more clearly both the hopes and the fears
of the region than the Holy City of Jerusalem and the war-torn but
miraculously tenacious city of Beirut. During our time in Jerusalem we
learned of the horrendous murder of Israeli children at the "Island of
Peace" between Israel and Jordan. We also witnessed the beginning of
the highly controversial construction of the new settlement in East
Jerusalem, accompanied by predictions that the fateful decision by the
Israeli government might derail the fragile peace process. And in
Jerusalem itself, a touchstone of faith for three religions, we experienced
a increasing level of distrust.

In Beirut we saw a city that has emerged from 16 years of civil war and
external invasions with a seemingly indomitable will to recreate a society
in which Christians and Muslims live and work together. Out of the
ashes of war is rising a "new," reconstructed Beirut that also clings to
the "old" in its attempts to recapture Lebanon's unique vocation of
pluralism and coexistence in a region too often torn by national and
sectarian rivalries. We were moved and encouraged by the role of the
Middle East Council of Churches in this process of reconstruction and
rehabilitation.

^From our visits with religious and political leaders several common
themes emerged:

1.  Throughout the region people are deeply worried about the future of
the peace process and disappointed by the role of the United States as a
sponsor of that process. The repeated vetoes by the U.S. of United
Nations Security Council resolutions produced both anger and incredulity
among Muslims and Christians alike. They questioned the basic fairness
of a process in which one side expressed almost uncritical support of
only one partner in the process.

2.  Many expressed concern about the emigration of Christians, a
growing phenomenon throughout the region stemming from a variety of
reasons--worries about religious extremism, a shaky economic climate,
the constant threat of war. 

3.  We walked through dusty refugee camps of Gaza and southern
Lebanon where, in some cases, several generations of Palestinians
stubbornly cling to the hope that the international community will
remember their plight as they try to survive with diminishing support
from the United Nations.

4.  The Lebanese expressed frustration with the continued ban on travel
to that country by American citizens, arguing that the ban is no longer
justified by the security situation and may even be punitive toward
Lebanon as a result of its role in the peace process. The ban is
particularly galling to U.S. churches that have had a long and honorable
tradition of work there.

5.  From all of our conversations we sense incomprehension and deep
hurt over the caricatures of the people of the Middle East in much of
American society.  We were constantly urged to ask members of our
churches to visit and experience not only the problems but the strength of
diverse cultures seeking new ways to live together in peace.

We returned from our trip with a renewed commitment to the people and
the churches of the Middle East--and a resolve to work for peace.  I
pledge my own personal efforts to communicate what we learned to
church and government leaders and to work for a just and loving policy
toward the peoples of a land that is still holy.