Middle East patriarchs denounce terrorism, deplore Iraqi insecurity

Published: 2005-12-06

BEIRUT, Lebanon(CNS) -- Catholic patriarchs of the Middle East denounced terrorism and called upon the international community to put an end to the "human drama" in Iraq. The patriarchs addressed a number of issues affecting the region in their 15th annual congress Nov. 28-Dec. 2 in Amman, Jordan, where Nov. 9 terrorist attacks left 60 people dead. In a concluding statement, the patriarchs said that they prayed for Iraq and deplored its insecurity and assassinations on the national level, as well as its insecurity on religious, social and moral levels. "The people of the Middle East region are suffering from repression, hunger, unemployment, occupation, exploitation and a lack of human rights. They also face the threat of losing their national identity in the face of foreign political, military and economic aggression," the patriarchs said. The assembly included the Eastern Catholic patriarchs of the Maronite, Coptic, Melkite, Syrian, Armenian and Chaldean churches and the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem.

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