wfn.org | Vatican Redoubles Diplomatic Efforts with Israel, Palestine

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Holy See Condems All Acts of Terrorism and
Humiliation and Injustice Imposed on Palestinians
 

JERUSALEM, April 3, 2002--Vatican officials are heavily engaged here in 
diplomatic efforts to curb the escalating violence in the Holy Land, 
according to the Rome-based news agency, CWNews.com.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican Secretary of State, has been in 
communication with Latin-rite Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem and other 
Catholic leaders in the Holy Land, including the representatives of religious 
communities in Bethlehem.

On Tuesday, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran--the Vatican's Secretary for 
Relations with States--met in Rome with the Israeli ambassador to the Holy 
See, Yosef Neville Lamdan, and the US ambassador, James Nicholson.  Their 
conversations centered on the situation in Bethlehem in particular.

The Israeli ambassador reported that his government had sent officials from 
the foreign ministry to Bethlehem, giving instructions to the army to protect 
the holy
places of the city, such as the Church of the Nativity.

On Wednesday morning, Archbishop Tauran's assistant, Msgr. Celestino 
Migliore, met with the representative of the Arab League in Rome, Mohamad Ali 
Mohamad. The Arab League envoy told reporters that he had been asked
to transmit a message to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, but could not do 
so because Arafat is isolated behind an Israeli blockade.

The Vatican's message to Arafat, Mohamad disclosed, was a call for an end to 
suicide bombings. 

But the Arab diplomat also added that the Vatican "understands the situation 
of the Palestinian leader, and condemns the Israeli action."

Mohamad Ali Mohamad said that the Arab League "has an enormous appreciation 
for the involvement of the Holy See in the search for a solution to the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict."  

He added: "We are against terrorism. But for terrorism to cease, human rights 
must be respected--in particular, the right to live in freedom."

The Holy See, in all diplomatic initiatives, has put forward several points: 

    - a blanket condemnation of all acts of terrorism; 

    - a condemnation of "the injustice and humiliation imposed on the 
Palestinian people;" 

    - an insistence on respect for approved UN resolutions; 

    - a call for restraint in the use of force; 

    - an insistence on protection for the shrines and holy places of the 
region, which should be safeguarded as a common "patrimony of humanity."

-end-