Pope Requests Prayers for Peace in the Middle East

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday appealed to all local Churches to pray for peace in the Holy Land and the Middle East. He made the appeal while praying the midday Angelus with some 5,000 faithful at Les Combes in the Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps, where he is resting for a few days. "In recent days the news from the Holy Land is a reason for new and grave concern for all, in particular because of the spread of warlike actions also in Lebanon, and because of the numerous victims among the civilian population," the Pope said. "At the origin of these cruel oppositions there are, sadly, objective situations of violation of law and justice," the Pope said in his first public comments on the escalating Middle East crisis. "But neither terrorist acts nor reprisals, especially when they entail tragic consequences for the civilian population, can be justified," he said. "By such paths, as bitter experience shows, positive results are not achieved."
The Holy Father asked for peace through the intercession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, whose feast was observed on Sunday. The Holy Father described Mount Carmel, which is a few kilometers from Lebanon, as a holy mount that "dominates the Israeli city of Haifa, which was hit by rocket fire from Hezbollah militants. "Let us pray to Mary, Queen of Peace, to implore from God the fundamental gift of concord, bringing political leaders back to the path of reason, and opening new possibilities of dialogue and agreement," he exhorted. He concluded by inviting local Churches "to raise special prayers for peace in the Holy Land and in the whole of the Middle East."
Pope Benedict is currently on vacation in the Italian Alps, where he will stay until July 28. He will then return to the papal summer palace of Castelgandolfo, in the hills southeast of Rome, where he will pass the rest of summer.