The Vatican’s secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Christians are “an integral and rightful part of Middle Eastern states and societies, even though past and recent events are encouraging them to emigrate”, as he opened a new church in Jordan.
Speaking on 10 January after presiding at the dedication of the Church of the Baptism of the Lord, built at Al-Maghtas on the banks of the River Jordan for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
More than 6,000 people attended the liturgy.
Cardinal Parolin repeated Pope Francis’ assertion that the Middle East without Christians would be poorer, lacking an essential expression of its identity.
He also said it was a sign of hope that “in a region ravaged by so many conflicts, torn apart by so many tensions, this once-mined area is now a stretch of cultivated land”.
Addressing the conflicts across the region, he called for a “just peace,” founded on international law and the declarations of the United Nations.
On Monday, the Heads of Churches of the Holy Land met the President of Israel Isaac Hertzog for their traditional Christmas greetings. The Church leaders voiced their hope that the violence “will come to an immediate end, for the benefit of all peoples of the Holy Land”.
Ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and Hamas reached a critical stage over the weekend, with Qatar presenting a final draft agreement for a ceasefire on Monday.
Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund, reported this week that at least 74 children were among those killed in the first week of the year in Gaza, where the civil defence agency reported that a wave of air strikes killed more than 50 people on Monday.
Last week reports from Negev, in southern Israel, alleged the government was selling off part of the land that historically belonged to Negev Bedouins to Israeli settlers at artificially low prices, after razing the Bedouin villages.
The Bedouin village of Araqeeb in the Negev desert was destroyed, displacing around 80 residents.