At the conclusion of the closed-door talks within the Basilica of Saint Nicholas, the Holy Father, Pope Francis and the Patriarchs came out into the courtyard of the Basilica, in the presence of the faithful who were waiting there. The Pope then read a few words of greeting before he and the Patriarchs boarded a motor coach and travelled to the Archbishop's residence for lunch.
At 2:50pm (8:50am EDT), Pope Francis bid farewell to the Patriarchs and, before departing, paid a brief visit to the Cathedral. Arriving at the helicopter, he then greeted the Authorities who had welcomed him upon his arrival. The helicopter then departed at 3:45pm (9:45am EDT), carrying the Holy Father back to the Vatican.
His Holiness was expected to arrive at the Vatican at 5:00pm local time.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am very grateful for the sharing that we have had the grace of witnessing. We have helped one another to rediscover our Christian presence in the Middle East, as brothers. It will be all the more prophetic the more it bears witness to Jesus the prince of peace (cf Is 9:5). He does not hold a sword; instead, he asks his followers to put their swords back into their sheaths (cf Jn 18:11). Even our being Church is tempted by the logic of the world, a logic of power and profit, a logic of haste and convenience. And there is our sin, the inconsistency between faith and life, which obscures our testimony. We feel that we have to be converted once again to the gospel, a guarantee of authentic freedom, and we must do so urgently now, in the night of the Middle East in agony. As in the agonizing night of Gethsemane, it will not be up to the flight (cf Mt 26,56) or the sword (cf Mt 26,52) to anticipate the radiant dawn of Easter, but the gift of self in imitation of the Lord.
The good news of Jesus, crucified and risen out of love, which came from the lands of the Middle East, has conquered the hearts of men down through the centuries because it is it is linked not to the powers of the world, but to the helpless power of the cross. The Gospel commits us to a daily conversion to God's plans, to find in Him our only security and comfort, to proclaim it to everyone and in spite of everything. The faith of the simple, so deeply rooted in the Middle East, is the source from which to draw and drink and purify us, as happens when we return to our origins, going as pilgrims to Jerusalem, the Holy Land or to the shrines of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and the other holy places of those regions.
Encouraged by each other, we interacted fraternally. It was a sign that encounter and unity are always sought, without fear of diversity. Peace is the same: it must also be cultivated in dry lands of contrasts, because today, in spite of everything, there is no possible alternative to peace. It is not the truces guaranteed by walls and strength that will bring peace, but rather the real will to listen and dialogue. We commit ourselves to walking, praying and working together, and we implore heaven that the art of encounter prevails over the strategies of confrontation, which at the risk of allowing threatening signs of power to take over, there is still the power of hopeful signs: men of good will and of different beliefs who are not afraid to talk to each other, to accept the motives of others and to take care of each other. Only in this way, taking care that no one will lack for bread and work, dignity and hope, the screams of war will change into songs of peace.
In order for this to happen, it is essential that those in power finally and definitely set themselves to the true service of peace and not their own interests. We must say enough of the seeking of benefits for a few on the backs of many! Enough to the occupations of lands that tear the peoples apart! Enough to prevailing the truth of one side on people's hopes! Enough to using the Middle East for profits unrelated to the Middle East!
War is the scourge that tragically assails this beloved region. The poor people are the victims above all. Think of battered Syria, especially the province of Deraa. There, bitter fighting has resumed, causing a huge number of displaced people, exposed to terrible suffering. War is the daughter of power and poverty. It is defeated by renouncing the logic of supremacy and eradicating poverty. Many conflicts have also been fomented by forms of fundamentalism and fanaticism which, disguised as religious pretexts, have actually blasphemed the name of God, which is peace, and haunted the brother who has always lived beside us. But violence is always fuelled by weapons. You can not raise your voice to talk about peace while in secret you are pursuing unbridled competition behind the backs of others. It is a very serious responsibility, which weighs on the conscience of nations, especially the most powerful ones. Do not forget the last century, do not forget the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, do not transform the lands of the East, where the Word of Peace arose, into dark expanses of silence. No obstinate opposition is enough, enough to earn money, which does not look in the face of anyone but to grab deposits of gas and fuel, without restraint for the common home and unscrupulously based on the fact that the energy market called for the law of coexistence between peoples!
In order to open paths of peace, look instead to those who plead for the possibility to live fraternally with others. All presences are protected, not just the majority ones. Also in the Middle East the road to the right to common citizenship has been opened, a road to a renewed future. Even Christians are full citizens, with equal rights.
Strongly anguished, but never without hope, we turn our gaze to Jerusalem, a city for all peoples, a unique and sacred city for Christians, Jews and Muslims from all corners of the world, whose identity and vocation must be preserved beyond the various disputes and tensions, and whose status quo demands to be respected as decided by the international community and repeatedly requested by the Christian communities in the Holy Land. Only a solution negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians, firmly desired and favoured by the Community of Nations, will lead to a stable and lasting peace, and guarantee the coexistence of two States for two peoples.
Hope has the face of children. In the Middle East, for years, a frightening number of young is crying due to violent deaths in the family and continually sees their native land threatened, often with the only prospect of having to flee. This is the death of hope. The eyes of too many children have spent most of their lives seeing rubble instead of schools, hearing the dull roar of bombs rather than the festive noise of games. Humanity must hear - I beg you - the cry of children, whose mouths proclaim the glory of God (cf Ps 8:3). It is by wiping their tears away that the world will rediscover dignity.
Thinking about children - let's not forget the children! - soon, we will let our desires for peace fly in the air, together with some doves. The yearning for peace rises higher than every dark cloud. Our hearts remain united and turned to Heaven, waiting for the tender twig of hope to come back, as in the days of the flood (cf Gen 8:11). And hoping for the day when the Middle East is no longer a waring arch stretched across the continents, but an ark of peace welcoming all peoples and faiths. Beloved Middle East, the darkness of war, of power, of violence, of fanaticism, of unfair gains, of exploitation, of poverty, of inequality and of the non-recognition of rights are thinned out by you. May peace be upon you (Ps 122: 8) - together: Peace be upon you (repeat) - in return for your justice, God's blessing is placed on you. Amen.
At 2:50pm (8:50am EDT), Pope Francis bid farewell to the Patriarchs and, before departing, paid a brief visit to the Cathedral. Arriving at the helicopter, he then greeted the Authorities who had welcomed him upon his arrival. The helicopter then departed at 3:45pm (9:45am EDT), carrying the Holy Father back to the Vatican.
His Holiness was expected to arrive at the Vatican at 5:00pm local time.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
at the conclusion of the closed-door talks
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am very grateful for the sharing that we have had the grace of witnessing. We have helped one another to rediscover our Christian presence in the Middle East, as brothers. It will be all the more prophetic the more it bears witness to Jesus the prince of peace (cf Is 9:5). He does not hold a sword; instead, he asks his followers to put their swords back into their sheaths (cf Jn 18:11). Even our being Church is tempted by the logic of the world, a logic of power and profit, a logic of haste and convenience. And there is our sin, the inconsistency between faith and life, which obscures our testimony. We feel that we have to be converted once again to the gospel, a guarantee of authentic freedom, and we must do so urgently now, in the night of the Middle East in agony. As in the agonizing night of Gethsemane, it will not be up to the flight (cf Mt 26,56) or the sword (cf Mt 26,52) to anticipate the radiant dawn of Easter, but the gift of self in imitation of the Lord.
The good news of Jesus, crucified and risen out of love, which came from the lands of the Middle East, has conquered the hearts of men down through the centuries because it is it is linked not to the powers of the world, but to the helpless power of the cross. The Gospel commits us to a daily conversion to God's plans, to find in Him our only security and comfort, to proclaim it to everyone and in spite of everything. The faith of the simple, so deeply rooted in the Middle East, is the source from which to draw and drink and purify us, as happens when we return to our origins, going as pilgrims to Jerusalem, the Holy Land or to the shrines of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and the other holy places of those regions.
Encouraged by each other, we interacted fraternally. It was a sign that encounter and unity are always sought, without fear of diversity. Peace is the same: it must also be cultivated in dry lands of contrasts, because today, in spite of everything, there is no possible alternative to peace. It is not the truces guaranteed by walls and strength that will bring peace, but rather the real will to listen and dialogue. We commit ourselves to walking, praying and working together, and we implore heaven that the art of encounter prevails over the strategies of confrontation, which at the risk of allowing threatening signs of power to take over, there is still the power of hopeful signs: men of good will and of different beliefs who are not afraid to talk to each other, to accept the motives of others and to take care of each other. Only in this way, taking care that no one will lack for bread and work, dignity and hope, the screams of war will change into songs of peace.
In order for this to happen, it is essential that those in power finally and definitely set themselves to the true service of peace and not their own interests. We must say enough of the seeking of benefits for a few on the backs of many! Enough to the occupations of lands that tear the peoples apart! Enough to prevailing the truth of one side on people's hopes! Enough to using the Middle East for profits unrelated to the Middle East!
War is the scourge that tragically assails this beloved region. The poor people are the victims above all. Think of battered Syria, especially the province of Deraa. There, bitter fighting has resumed, causing a huge number of displaced people, exposed to terrible suffering. War is the daughter of power and poverty. It is defeated by renouncing the logic of supremacy and eradicating poverty. Many conflicts have also been fomented by forms of fundamentalism and fanaticism which, disguised as religious pretexts, have actually blasphemed the name of God, which is peace, and haunted the brother who has always lived beside us. But violence is always fuelled by weapons. You can not raise your voice to talk about peace while in secret you are pursuing unbridled competition behind the backs of others. It is a very serious responsibility, which weighs on the conscience of nations, especially the most powerful ones. Do not forget the last century, do not forget the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, do not transform the lands of the East, where the Word of Peace arose, into dark expanses of silence. No obstinate opposition is enough, enough to earn money, which does not look in the face of anyone but to grab deposits of gas and fuel, without restraint for the common home and unscrupulously based on the fact that the energy market called for the law of coexistence between peoples!
In order to open paths of peace, look instead to those who plead for the possibility to live fraternally with others. All presences are protected, not just the majority ones. Also in the Middle East the road to the right to common citizenship has been opened, a road to a renewed future. Even Christians are full citizens, with equal rights.
Strongly anguished, but never without hope, we turn our gaze to Jerusalem, a city for all peoples, a unique and sacred city for Christians, Jews and Muslims from all corners of the world, whose identity and vocation must be preserved beyond the various disputes and tensions, and whose status quo demands to be respected as decided by the international community and repeatedly requested by the Christian communities in the Holy Land. Only a solution negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians, firmly desired and favoured by the Community of Nations, will lead to a stable and lasting peace, and guarantee the coexistence of two States for two peoples.
Hope has the face of children. In the Middle East, for years, a frightening number of young is crying due to violent deaths in the family and continually sees their native land threatened, often with the only prospect of having to flee. This is the death of hope. The eyes of too many children have spent most of their lives seeing rubble instead of schools, hearing the dull roar of bombs rather than the festive noise of games. Humanity must hear - I beg you - the cry of children, whose mouths proclaim the glory of God (cf Ps 8:3). It is by wiping their tears away that the world will rediscover dignity.
Thinking about children - let's not forget the children! - soon, we will let our desires for peace fly in the air, together with some doves. The yearning for peace rises higher than every dark cloud. Our hearts remain united and turned to Heaven, waiting for the tender twig of hope to come back, as in the days of the flood (cf Gen 8:11). And hoping for the day when the Middle East is no longer a waring arch stretched across the continents, but an ark of peace welcoming all peoples and faiths. Beloved Middle East, the darkness of war, of power, of violence, of fanaticism, of unfair gains, of exploitation, of poverty, of inequality and of the non-recognition of rights are thinned out by you. May peace be upon you (Ps 122: 8) - together: Peace be upon you (repeat) - in return for your justice, God's blessing is placed on you. Amen.
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