Pope Francis to Host Meeting on Syria
The Meeting Will Precede U.N.-Backed Peace Talks
Pope Francis will assemble diplomats and experts for a surprise meeting on how to resolve the conflict in Syria, the Register has learned.
The meeting, to be hosted at the Vatican by Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, was to take place Jan. 13, just a few days before U.N.-backed peace talks begin on ending the conflict.
The Geneva II Middle East peace conference on Jan. 22 will bring together the Syrian regime and the Syrian opposition to discuss a possible transitional government with full executive powers.
The Vatican meeting is aimed at "influencing" the peace talks so that the most just and lasting solution can be achieved, according to a diplomatic source. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences confirmed the meeting to the Register but was unable to give further details as of press time, saying it was still making preparations for the seminar. However, other sources have said the planning is already well advanced.
On Sept. 7, 2013, Pope Francis led a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria. The initiative, which attracted participation across the world, is credited by many for helping to avert a U.S. military strike on Syria after a chemical-weapons attack on a Damascus suburb in August 2013.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal, said the vigil produced a "miracle" by helping to prevent what many viewed as an imminent escalation of the conflict. Shortly before the vigil, the Holy See also took the rare step of assembling diplomats accredited to the Holy See, during which officials presented a detailed peace plan for the country. Not since the Iraq War of 2003 has the Holy See been so active in trying to broker peace.
Pope’s Initiative
The impetus comes from the Pope himself, who is known to be deeply concerned about the Syrian conflict, particularly the Christians living there. He has frequently appealed for peace since September, most recently calling for the release of 12 Orthodox nuns abducted by armed Islamist rebels in Maaloula, a predominantly Christian city north of Damascus.
On Jan. 13, the same day as the Vatican meeting on Syria, the Pope is expected to make further appeals for peace when he delivers his annual address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See. The conflict also ranked highly in his list of concerns mentioned during his "urbi et orbi" address on Christmas Day.
The Geneva II peace talks, led by Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. peace envoy to Syria, in close cooperation with the U.S. and Russia, have frequently run into trouble. Initially proposed for the end of May 2013, the talks have been postponed several times. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon announced at the end of November that the conference would be held on Jan. 22.
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- Jan. 12-25, 2014
Edward Pentin Edward Pentin is the Register’s Senior Contributor and EWTN News Vatican Analyst. He began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for EWTN's National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press, 2020) and The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Ignatius Press, 2015). Follow him on Twitter at @edwardpentin.
