Leading Franciscan opposes military intervention in Syria
April 11, 2012
The Custos of the Holy Land--who serves as superior to Franciscans in Israel and other nations in the region, including Syria--has said that he opposes Western military intervention in Syria.
“I am against foreign intervention,” said Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa. “We’ve seen what that led to in Iraq and Afghanistan. The West should certainly apply diplomatic and political pressure, but avoid the use of military force.”
“Syria is currently in a kind of civil war,” he added. “It’s not called that, but that’s what it is. And the Christians are caught between all fronts: between the regime on the one hand, which has always supported them, and the opposition on the other, of which it is still not yet precisely known who they are. There are so many fragmented groups. But it’s true, Christians fear an Iraqi situation.”
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