English, Welsh bishops express concern about crisis in Holy Land

Published: 2004-05-04

MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- Catholic bishops in England and Wales expressed concern about the "severe crisis" in the Holy Land. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales issued a statement April 30 after its four-day meeting at Ushaw College, a seminary in Durham County, England. The statement said the bishops supported the church in the Holy Land in its mission to work for a just peace and reconciliation of spirit. "We are therefore disturbed to observe the current severe crisis in the region. Morally abhorrent suicide attacks against Israeli civilians have continued, as have actions of the Israeli Defense Forces through which hundreds of Palestinian civilians have been killed in a few months. The unlawful assassination of two successive leaders of Hamas has drawn threats of unlimited reprisals to 'open the gates of hell'; the prime minister of Israel has publicly withdrawn his pledge not to kill or harm the chairman of the Palestinian (National) Authority," the bishops said. Their statement said that a return to negotiations and the primacy of international law was vital if the current "tragic impasse" was to be resolved with justice.

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