News >> June 8 : Day of Prayer for Peace in Israel, Palestine and Middle East
At a press conference in the Vatican on Friday, the head of the
Holy See's press office, Fr Federico Lombardi, and the Franciscan Custos of the
Holy Land, Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, announced details of a prayer encounter
to be held on Sunday with the presidents of Israel and Palestine. Also
attending the event will be the spiritual leader of the Orthodox world,
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.
Pope Francis invited Israeli
President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the encounter
on May 25th during his brief but intense visit to the Holy Land.
"Building peace is difficult, but living without peace is
a constant torment." Those were Pope Francis' words to the Israeli and
Palestinian presidents when he invited them to come to the Vatican to join him
in "heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace." Both leaders immediately
accepted that invitation and will be arriving in the Vatican around 6.30pm on
Sunday evening, accompanied by delegations of about 20 people representing the
different faith communities present in both states. Also taking part in the
Vatican delegation will be the Orthodox Patriarch who played such a central
role in the Pope's recent pilgrimage to Jerusalem to recall a similar encounter
between their predecessors exactly half a century ago.
Following a brief welcome in the Casa Santa Marta where he lives
Pope Francis will accompany the two presidents and the patriarch through the
Vatican gardens to a specially prepared venue surrounded by two tall hedges
between the Pontifical Academy of Sciences building and a wing of the Vatican
museums. Fr Lombardi explained that each faith community will present a piece
of music, then thank God for the gift of creation, ask forgiveness for sins
committed and pray for the gift of peace. Pope Francis and the two presidents
will add their own calls for peace in the region, before exchanging greetings,
planting an olive tree as a visible symbol of their desire for an end to the
conflict and sharing a moment of private conversation together.
Answering journalists' questions about the aim of the encounter,
Fr Pizzaballa said it is a purely religious event designed to provide space for
people to stand back from the conflict and "recreate a desire for change".
While the meeting will not lead to any overnight solutions to the complex
problems of the Middle East, Fr Pizzaballa said he hoped it might just reopen a
path of dialogue and allow people to dream of a world where peace really is
possible.
