-255x255.jpg "Michael Nagle/Getty Images")
VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York will be part of a papal delegation to Syria that will voice “fraternal solidarity” with the Syrian people and encourage peace amid the country’s violent conflict.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Holy See’s secretary of state, said Oct. 16 that the world’s Catholic bishops cannot be “mere spectators of a tragedy such as the one that is now unfolding in Syria.”
He said a political answer is “the only possible solution to the crisis.” The Syrian population and displaced persons have endured “immense suffering.”
Cardinal Bertone said the delegation will travel to Damascus next week.
“In the meantime, we pray that reason and compassion might prevail,” Cardinal Bertone said.
Fighting between rebels and the Syrian government has killed an estimated 30,000 people.
Syria’s Christians tend to support the state, given the fate they expect to suffer if Islamists take control. Rebels have targeted Christians, bombing several churches and driving tens of thousands of them from their homes.
Lakhdar Brahimi, a peace envoy from the United Nations and the Arab League, is presently touring the region to try to find a solution to the conflict. He arrived in Lebanon Oct. 17, after visiting Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq.
He is seeking a three-day ceasefire for the Muslim holiday Eid, which is observed on Oct. 26. The rebel Free Syrian Army has rejected the proposal on the grounds it would allow the government to prepare more offensives. The Syrian National Council, which opposes the government, has tentatively welcomed the proposal.
Another member of the papal delegation will be Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
On Oct. 17, at the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization, he said the group will show “human solidarity towards people who are suffering.” It will also express spiritual solidarity.
The delegation aims to find a solution to the conflict.
“We must help those who are in charge of society and the general political landscape,” the cardinal said, according to Vatican Radio.
In addition to Cardinals Dolan and Tauran, the delegation will include Cardinal Laurent Mosengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo; Bishop Fabio Suescun Mutis, military ordinary of Colombia; and Bishop Joseph Nguyen Nang of Phat Diem, Vietnam.
Vatican officials in the delegation include Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states, and Msgr. Alberto Ortega of the Secretariat of State.
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A step in the right direction for the Cardinal
How many in politics in the West really understand or care that SYRIA (Suriyye) is the Christian + Muslim HOLY LAND as much as is the rest of the Levantine coast? In fact, historically, Greater Syria encompassed all of Palestine (+ incl Israel) as well as Jordan + parts of Turkey + Iraq (Ash-Sham).
Thus it is time to end the exploitation of sectarian divisions in the Middle East entirely. Syria has now become the focal point for such opportunistic disruptions since Libya fell into disarray. But Syria is the cross-roads of nations, not merely a tribal sheikh-dom with its oil + deserts.
There is now much more at stake than perceived profits in a resource that is fast running out. Both culturally + spiritually, Syria is far more important + its heritage today is in its people, not simply in a faded history of the past. It is something valuable that can be lived instead of being just a place for tourists to walk amongst its ancient ruins.
I pray for their protection and for Cardinal Dolan and the others to be blessed with the Holy Spirit so they can see through lies and half-truths. Muslim extremists believe they do not have to speak truth with the “infidels”. I pray for God’s peace in the Middle East for it is the only true and lasting peace there is. Syria, the land where the truest, most faithfilled Christians dwelt and thrived has become the place where Christians are continiually persecuted. May God’s will and not man’s will be done.
Cardinal Dolan is the voice crying out in the wilderness for Catholics today. May God protect him under his wings and continue to be his rock and refuge. “God hates all evil doers, he destroys all who speak falsehood, the bloodthirsty and the deceitful the Lord ahors. For in their mouths there is no sincerity; their heart teems with treacheries. Their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Punish them, O God, let them fall by their own devices; for their many sins, cast them out because they have rebelled against you. But let all who take refuge in you be glad and exult forever. Protect them, that you may be the joy of those who love your name. For you, O Lord, bless the just man, you surround him with the shield of your good will.” (Psalm 5)
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