Nuncios: international community must act against Islamic State

October 06, 2014

The nuncios who represent the Holy See in the Middle East have issued a joint statement deploring the actions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The October 4 statement came at the conclusion of a three-day meeting in Rome with officials of the Secretariat of State and other leading Vatican diplomats. The statement echoed the themes of a homily preached earlier in the day by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State.

“The activity of some extremist groups is a cause of grave concern, particularly the so-called ‘Islamic State,’ whose violence and abuses cannot be met with indifference,” the statement noted. “One cannot be silent, nor the international community remain inactive, in the face of the massacre of persons merely because of their religion or ethnicity, in the face of decapitations and crucifixions of human beings in public squares, in the face of the exodus of thousands of persons and the destruction of places of worship. The participants at the meeting reaffirmed that it is licit to stop the unjust aggressor, always in accordance with international law.”

The statement added:

Nevertheless, the resolution of the problem cannot be entrusted solely to a military response; the problem must be dealt with more radically by addressing the root causes which are exploited by fundamentalist ideology. Religious leaders, both Christian and Muslim, should play an important role by cooperating together in promoting dialogue and education for the fostering of mutual understanding, and in denouncing clearly the instrumentalization of religion to justify violence.

Noting that the need for humanitarian assistance is urgent, the nuncios called for an immediate end to the violence in Syria and Iraq and deplored the trafficking of arms and human persons.

 

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Further information:

• Apostolic nuncios call for end to war in Middle East (Vatican Radio)
• Santa Messa con i Nunzi Apostolici del Medio Oriente presieduta dal Cardinale Segretario di Stato Pietro Parolin (Holy See Press Office)