Visiting bishops denounce lack of will for Mideast peace

(January 15, 2010) Eight months after Pope Benedict XVI exhorted Israelis and Palestinians to promote the two-state solution and achieve lasting peace in the Holy Land, the resolution to the decades-long conflict does not seem any closer, according to a group of western bishops who concluded an annual visit to the region on Thursday. A communiqué from eight European and North American prelates noted that many people "express a desire for peace, but what is needed is a commitment to justice that secures peace." "The solutions are well known to leaders," they asserted, "but what is needed is political will and courage." The group called the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church in the Holy Land, makes a trip to the Middle East every year. Peace is not coming closer, the prelates lamented, saying, on the contrary there is "a growing distance between Israelis and Palestinians - a lack of human contact that undermines trust and dialogue." They said violence, insecurity, home demolitions, permit and visa problems, the route of the wall, expropriation of lands and other policies are threatening both a two-state solution and the Christian presence in the Holy Land. The group urged Catholics worldwide not only to pray for the Church in the Holy Land but also for the synod of bishops that will meet in October in the Vatican to discuss the Middle East.