VATICAN CITY — Christians, Muslims and Jews who are sincere about
their faith must be committed to protecting the special character of Jerusalem
and to praying and working for peace in the Holy Land, Pope Francis wrote in a
letter to the grand imam of Egypt's al-Azhar University.
Only a special, internationally guaranteed statute on the status
of Jerusalem "can preserve its identity and unique vocation as a place of
peace," the pope wrote. And only when the city's "universal
value" is recognized and protected can there be "a future of
reconciliation and hope for the entire region."
"This is the only aspiration of those who authentically
profess themselves to be believers and who never tire of imploring with prayer
a future of brotherhood for all," Pope Francis wrote in the letter to
Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, the grand imam.
El-Tayeb hosted a meeting Jan. 17-18 with Christian and Muslim
clerics and political leaders from 86 countries in reaction to U.S. President
Donald Trump's decision in December to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel and to begin preparations to move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv.
The sheik had invited Pope Francis to the meeting even though he
knew the pope would be in Chile. Still, the pope said in his letter, "I
assure you, I will not fail to continue praying to God for the cause of peace —
a true, real peace."
"In particular, I raise heartfelt prayers that leaders of
nations and civil and religious authorities everywhere would work to prevent
new spirals of tension and support every effort to make agreement, justice and
security prevail for the populations of that blessed land that is so close to
my heart," the pope said in the letter, which was published Jan. 18 by the
Vatican.
Pope Francis repeated the Vatican's long-standing position calling
for renewed peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians to find a negotiated
agreement that would guarantee both could live in peace within internationally
recognized borders "with full respect for the particular nature of
Jerusalem, whose significance goes beyond any consideration of territorial
questions."
In their final statement, read by el-Tayeb, conference
participants voiced "unequivocal rejection of the recent U.S.
administration decisions which, in the eyes of the Arab, the Muslim world and the
free world, are nothing but ink on paper."
"All official and popular Arab and international (Islamic,
Christian, Jewish) possibilities must be harnessed to end the unjust and
oppressive Zionist occupation of the Arab Land of Palestine," said the
statement, which included the parenthetical material.
Conference participants called on the governments of the Islamic
world, the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the
United Nations and civil society organizations "to swift and serious
action to halt the implementation of the decision of the United States
administration and to create global public opinion against these unjust
policies."
The Maronite Catholic patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Rai, spoke at
the conference, reviewing the Vatican statements on Jerusalem. "Since the
reign of Pope Pius XII, specifically since 1948, the popes have been standing
alongside the Palestinian cause and demanding a just solution," including
on the status of Jerusalem, he said.
Contributing to this story was Doreen Abi Raad in Beirut.