Hope for Change in Cyprus

(18 Nov 08 - RV) The 2008 edition of the St Egidio meeting “Peoples and Religion” closes Tuesday with the hope that Europe’s last divided community on the island of Cyprus will soon be united in peace.

Over the last three days the city of Nicosia in Cyprus has been home to Imams, Rabbi, Patriarchs and Cardinals. Together they crossed the green line that divides this nation’s two communities and together they have been discussing how religion, through constant prayer, solidarity and dialogue can be a force for peace.

As a concrete example of this, a delegation of the St Egidio community accompanied by religious leaders met negotiators from both the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities, who along with the United Nations are working to resolve the question of Cyprus and to ensure that religion is not exploited in what is a purely geo-political issue.

Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a regular participant at these global gathering, says they are important because they draw attention to the world’s many forgotten conflicts:

“Sometimes the world does not focus on problems which are in little corners of the world, such as this island in the Eastern Mediterranean. So maybe we can get the United Nations more involved in this important crises which has gone on for 30 years. Secondly, we all come to together to pray and I am still convinced that this is the most important thing that we can do. ”

Prayers not just for Cyprus, says Cardinal McCarrick, but for inter-religious harmony in India, the Holy Land and Iraq.

The Archbishop of Baghdad Jean Baptiste Sleiman, is another regular participant who this year hosted a special roundtable discussion with fellow Iraqis, Ali Khalid Sarmad a Sunni Muslim and Abdul Hadi Kadhim Al-Hussaini a Shiite who for years has worked to heal the rift between his nation’s communities.
 
Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Vatican’s Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and another regular participant at these meetings, praises their emphasis on ecumenical dialogue:
 
“We are on the right path…, the friendship between Catholic and Orthodox bishops is increasingly strong…but it is also necessary that the lay faithful are involved. We have made great headway in the last 40 years and can look towards the future with hope”.
 
The 22^nd edition of these extraordinary encounters concludes with the traditional message for peace read by St Egidio Founder, Prof. Andrea Riccardi and with a very special testimony from former FARC hostage and Colombian Presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, and with a particular appeal for the poor, the true victims of the current economic crises.