Pope announces day of fasting, prayer for Syria

Reuters

Vatican City, 02 sep 2013: Pope Francis has called for the world to unite on Saturday in a day of fasting and prayer for Syria and said “God and history” would judge anyone using chemical weapons. “May the cry for peace enter the hearts of everyone,” the pope told tens of thousands of pilgrims at his traditional weekly blessing in the Vatican yesterday. “I condemn with particular force the use of chemical weapons. I still have in my mind and heart the terrible images of the past days,” he said. “There is judgment from God and history on our actions that no one can escape,” he said, in his first explicit reference to the chemical arms claims. He urged the international community to make “every effort” to begin a process of dialogue in Syria.

 

The pope said he would lead the prayers with a five-hour vigil in St Peter’s Square on Saturday, just two days before the US Congress meets to debate possible strikes by the United States on Syria. The relatively rare call for a global day of fasting and prayer was similar to one made by late pope John Paul II following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Vatican expert Luigi Accattoli told AFP. Although he did not apportion blame for the alleged chemical attack, the pope’s reference to divine judgment was also similar to John Paul II’s call for members of the Italian mafia to confess their crimes and repent, Accattoli said. His exhortation “Never again to war!” echoed a famous speech made by another of his predecessors, Paul VI, at the United Nations during the Vietnam War. The pope’s call came as the United States, France and other countries were making plans for a limited armed response against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime over its alleged use of chemical weapons.

The Vatican has repeatedly pushed for a negotiated solution to the conflict and has already criticized plans by global powers for an armed intervention. It has been more cautious, however, than some Christian leaders in Syria and the region who have openly defended the current Syrian government seeing it as a guarantor of a multi-religious state. Christian minorities are concerned about the rise of radical Islam in the region and point to the example of Iraq, where there has been an exodus of Christians faced with violence and discrimination.