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Pope says walls, occupation, fundamentalism block Mideast peace

July 7, 2018 at 1:46 pm

Pope Francis walks in front of the Dome of the Rock as he visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in Jerusalem’s Old City on 25 May 2014 [Handout Photo by Haim Zach-Israeli GPO / Pool – ApaImages]

Pope Francis said on Saturday that building walls, occupying territories and religious fanaticism would never bring peace to the Middle East.

Speaking at the end of a summit of Christian religious leaders, Francis also repeated his view that the “status quo” of the contested city of Jerusalem should be respected, and backed a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reported Reuters.

“Truces maintained by walls and displays of power will not lead to peace, but only the concrete desire to listen and to engage in dialogue will,” he said, adding:

Let there be an end to the few profiting from the sufferings of many. No more occupying territories and thus tearing people apart

Francis said many conflicts had been stoked by “forms of fundamentalism and fanaticism that, under the guise of religion, have profaned God’s name – which is peace – and persecuted age-old neighbours”.

He said every community in the Middle East should be protected, “not simply the majority,” and took a swipe at weapons procurement, saying “You cannot speak of peace while you are secretly racing to stockpile new arms”.

Read: Pope expresses deep sorrow over Gaza massacre