Pope calls again for prayers for Middle East

Pope John Paul II expressed his sadness and and concern for the victims of the violence in the Middle East yesterday. Speaking to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Bishop Michel Sabbah; ANP (National Authority of Palestine) State Minister Sheikh Tal el Sider; the president of the Palestine Ministerial High Committee for the ecclesiastic affairs Emile Jarjoui; Israeli vice foreign minister Rabbi Michael Melchior; Israeli ambassador to the Holy See Yosef Neville Lamdan, and the special envoy of the Bishop of Canterbury for the Middle East, Rev Andrew White, the Pope said: "I reiterate the firm determination of the Catholic Church to work for a just peace". He said: "We are all saddened by the daily instances of violence and death in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Our mission as men and women of religion impels us to pray for peace, to proclaim peace and to do everything in our power to help bring an end to the bloodshed". source: vatican