Rome, Italy, Jul 16, 2006 / 22:00 pm
The former Apostolic Nuncio to Israel, Cardinal Andrea Lanza di Montezemolo, has called on “the international community and in particular the United Nations to support dialogue as the only means of overcoming the current difficult and painful situation,” in the Middle East.
Speaking on Vatican Radio, the cardinal decried the seemingly endless cycle of terrorist attacks and disproportionate reprisals. “The escalation of recent days is leading to increase in tensions and is creating very painful situations,” he stated.
Cardinal Montezemolo, who is currently Archpriest at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, emphasized that the peoples who live in the war-torn region have the right “to live in peace and security.”
“Something new needs to spring forth from inside (these peoples)”, the cardinal went on, as well as “something new from the outside,” in order to provide an impulse to good will on the part of those involved in the conflict. He said the suggestions of the UN for finding a just and lasting solution should be respected. Such solutions will be achieved “only through dialogue, and never through violence,” the cardinal said.