Vatican City, Jul 19, 2006 / 22:00 pm
The Press Office of the Holy See released, today, a communication from Pope Benedict XVI declaring this Sunday a special day of prayer and penance for peace in the Middle East.
The communiqué states, "The Holy Father is following with great concern the destinies of all the peoples involved and has proclaimed this Sunday, July 23, to be a special day of prayer and penance, inviting the pastors and faithful of all the particular Churches, and all believers of the world, to implore from God the precious gift of peace."
"In particular," the message continues, "the Supreme Pontiff hopes that prayers will be raised to the Lord for an immediate cease-fire between the sides, for humanitarian corridors to be opened in order to bring help to the suffering peoples, and for reasonable and responsible negotiations to begin to put an end to objective situations of injustice that exist in that region; as already indicated by Pope Benedict XVI at the Angelus last Sunday, July 16."
The Holy Father also called on charitable organizations to, “help all the people struck by this pitiless conflict.”