Vatican summons envoys to Middle East for special meeting

October 02, 2014

The Vatican has summoned all papal representatives in the nations of the Middle East to a special meeting in Rome this week, to discuss the crisis facing the Church in that region.

Greeting the Vatican representatives on October 2, as they began their three days of meetings, Pope Francis said that he had called them together to pray and to seek discernment about the crisis. He expressed his hope that this week’s session would produce ideas on how the Church can show solidarity with the Christians of the Middle East and how Catholics can encourage the international community to join in an effort to resolve the crisis.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State, also spoke to the papal representatives during their first day of meetings. He provided a summary of the situation facing the Church in the Middle East and asked the Vatican diplomats to offer their thoughts on possible responses.

The papal nuncios were also scheduled to hear talks by: Cardinal Robert Sarah, the president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, on the humanitarian needs in the Middle East; Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, on relations with Islam; and Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the prefect of the Congregation for Evangelization, on his experiences acting as the Pope’s special envoy in Iraq and Syria, visiting with refugees in recent weeks.

 

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Further information:

• Papal representatives in the Middle East gather in the Vatican to discuss the situation of Christians in the region (VIS)
• Pope greets Middle East Nuncios at start of Vatican meetings (Vatican Radio)
• Pope summons Mideast envoys to Rome over Islamist advance (Reuters)