Finding peace
Pope Benedict is enjoying a very peaceful vacation. And he’s wondering why that can’t be extended beyond the Alps…
Speaking from the town square in Lorenzago di Cadore, the mountain town in northern Italy where he is spending his vacation, the Holy Father said that the peaceful surroundings of the Alpine region made him feel “even more intensely” the impact of the news that he received on “the bloody confrontations and episodes of violence happening in many parts of the world.”
Former British PM Tony Blair is looking for peace, too.
Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, plunged into his new role Monday as special envoy of the quartet of Middle East peacemakers, raising many questions about what he can achieve…
As the representative of the international “quartet” of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, Blair comes with a defined mandate, to help build the institutions of the Palestinian Authority and promote the development of the Palestinian economy…
But Palestinian expectations regarding the chances of a breakthrough appeared low. “What I do with the Israelis, what the Israelis do with me, is the main ingredient,” the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, told the Associated Press. “The decisions required for peace are not going to come from the envoys.”
So….that’s not off to a good start.
But Archbishop Sean Brady of Ireland is with the pope.
He was speaking at a weekend service to welcome the senior Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal, on his first visit to Ireland.
Archbishop Brady said: “Only a just and lasting peace with the Palestinians will offer security to Israel, and only a just peace will set Israel free from its present anxiety.
“That just peace will only be found if and when the needs of the weak are given priority over the wishes of the powerful, and both sides begin to hear each other’s voices and to recognise each other’s rights.”
Archbishop Twal said: “The negotiations we need require real dialogue, mediated by an impartial party to the conflict.
So……what will this take?