Summons for Peace

Ahead of the G8 meeting in Russia, leaders of the world’s major religions held their own “Moscow summit” to prepare a statement for those leaders of the industrial nations to consider.

Wise move. Providential, as it turns out, with the war breaking out as the G8 met.

So at the conclusion of the G8 this week, the message was read aloud. The religious leaders wanted their own voices heard by the world’s most powerful government leaders. Their religions represented Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism. They strongly condemned terrorism – which was no minor thing for a mullah to sign his name to — and insisted that deliberate violence against the innocent can never be justified by religious motives. Ditto the previous comment.

It’s a beautiful document and holds some of the most noble language recently crafted in these contentious times. Take just this line, for instance:

Through education and social action, we must reassert sustainable ethical values in the consciousness of people.

For some that would be a reassertion. But an education in sustainable ethical values might be new data input for some younger consciences.

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI came out in full support of the G8 leaders’ statement on the crisis in Lebanon.

Pope Benedict said that in his view, the G8 statement “indicates the path” that should be taken toward peace in the Middle East. That statement had called for the safe return of Israeli soldiers who have been captured in Gaza and Lebanon; a halt to the rocket attacks and terror bombings on Israeli territory; the end of Israeli military operations in Lebanon; rapid withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza; and the release of Palestinian parliamentary leaders who have been arrested by Israeli forces.

That covered it, according to this report in Catholic World News. Except for punctuation:

“I have nothing to add,” Pope Benedict said, “except the importance of prayer that God will help us.”

And toward that hope, the Pope has declared a day of prayer for peace in the Middle East, Sunday, July 23. He’s calling on all pastors, the faithful, all churches and all believers of the world “to implore from God the precious gift of peace”, according to the Vatican press office.

CWNews carries that story, too, with the following conclusion:

The papal statement included a summation of the Holy See’s viewpoint on the struggle:

In reality, the Lebanese have the right to see the integrity and sovereignty of their country respected, the Israelis the right to live in peace in their State, and the Palestinians have the right to have their own free and sovereign homeland. 

Some pundits have questioned what business the Pope has making prounouncements on the war. Are any of them the same ones who hastened to report on the Catholic Just War Theory when President Bush launched the war on terror?

And after all, he IS the Successor of Peter. God and peace are his business.