God, not Obama will bring peace to the Middle East, says Jordanian bishop

Amman, Jordan, Oct 9, 2009 / (CNA).-

The Vicar of Jordan, Most Rev. Selim Sayegh, spoke to CNA in Amman last week about the tensions in the Middle East as well as the diminishing number of Christians in the area. He noted that Catholics can assist those struggling in the region by praying for peace because “true peace comes from the Lord,” not Obama, or Israeli/Palestinian leaders.

Sayegh, who has served Jordan as an auxiliary bishop for 27 years, addressed the plight of Christians in the Middle East, particularly the ones living in Iraq. He noted that the while the situation isn’t desperate, less Christians are living in the area than is considered ideal.

“Why,” the bishop asked, are not only Christians but also Muslims leaving the area? “All of them, they are looking for peace…they want peace for their children,” he answered.

“Once peace is established into these countries...no one would think about leaving.”

He zeroed in on Iraq asking why anyone would leave – it’s “one of the richest countries in the world,” however “there is no hope.”

When Iraqi Christian’s leave, they go to Jordan or Syria, the vicar explained. But, “for the most part, the Christians don’t intend to become established in Jordan,” but they only “stay until they can obtain a visa to the United States, Europe or Australia.”

“It’s a very sad situation,” the bishop lamented, explaining that many of the Iraqis were educated, economically well-off people in their country, but when they leave, all of a sudden, “poof, and they have nothing.”

Bishop Sayegh said that Catholics around the world can help improve the situation in the Middle East not only by being “good citizens,” but also by praying for peace.

“Pray for peace because true peace comes from the Lord, it doesn’t come from Obama or from Netanyahu or from Abu Mazen,” but rather from the “Lord of peace,” the bishop remarked.

Reflecting on Christians’ role in the peace process, Bishop Sayegh said that they have their place, but that they are called to play a role by living out the faith. “That’s why every day in our churches we pray for peace,” since God is the only one who is “able to change the hearts” and to “arrive at peace” in the region.

Vatican appreciates Obama receiving Nobel Peace Prize

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2009 / 12:59 pm (CNA).

The Vatican offered its appreciation today for President Barack Obama’s work for peace on the international level, following the announcement that the president the winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi told L’Osservatore Romano that President Obama’s reception of the award “is greeted with appreciation by the Vatican” due to his efforts “to promote peace in the international arena, particularly in the recent effort in favor of the nuclear disarmament."

Fr. Lombardi also said that he hopes that the honor “may generate the expected results for the future of humanity.”

Reacting to the award, President Obama stated that it isn’t necessarily “a recognition of my own accomplishments,” but rather a “call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.”

Fox News reported that the award committee chose the President due to his work to reduce nuclear weapons, his commitment to easing tensions with the Middle East and his dedication to cooperation.

The chairman of the Norwegian committee charged with choosing the peace prize recipient, Thorbjoern Jagland, said that although the president’s initiatives have yet to bear fruit, “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future.”

In his statement today, the president also said he does not feel that he deserves “to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize.”

Previous winners of the award include Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Theodore Roosevelt, Elie Wiesel and Jimmy Carter.

Pope and Youth against War

Pope tells young concert performers, 'never yield to the temptation of war'

Rome, Italy, Oct 9, 2009 / (CNA).

Pope Benedict XVI attended a concert on Thursday evening as part of commemorations for the 70th anniversary of World War II. The Holy Father prayed that "the recollection of those sad events be a warning, especially to the new generations, never to yield to the temptation of war," and pointed to the ecumenical movement as a means to held build a civilization of peace.

The concert, which was titled "Young People Against War (1939-2009)" took place yesterday evening in the Auditorium on Rome's Via della Conciliazione.

The musical celebration was played by the "InterRegionales Jugendsinfonie Orchester" and conducted by Jochem Hochstenbach. The programme included compositions by Gustav Mahler and Felix Mendelsshon-Bartholdy and texts by Johan Wolfgang Goethe, Heinrich Heine, Paul Celan and Berthold Brecht, as well as two poems by children imprisoned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, read by Michelle Breedt and Klaus Maria Brandauer.

Organizations that helped put the event together included the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism, the German embassy to the Holy See and the European "KulturForum" of Mainau.


Following the concert, Pope Benedict said that it was a joy for him to participate in the event and that the universal language of music is able to "encourage young people to build the future of the world together, drawing inspiration from the values of peace and the brotherhood of man."

Turning to the fact that it was the tragedy of World War II that occassioned the concert, the Pope called it "a terrible page of history steeped in violence and inhumanity which caused the death of millions of people, leaving the winners divided and Europe to be rebuilt. The war, instigated by National Socialism, affected many innocent peoples in Europe and on other continents, while with the drama of the Shoah it particularly affected the Jewish people, who were victims of a planned extermination."

And yet, the Pontiff noted, "calls for reason and peace were not lacking from many sides. Here in Rome, the heartfelt cry of my venerated predecessor Pius XII rang out. In his radio message of 24 August 1939 - on the very eve of the outbreak of war - he decisively proclaimed: 'nothing is lost with peace. Everything may be lost with war'. ... May the recollection of those sad events be a warning, especially to the new generations, never to yield to the temptation of war."

Pope Benedict then went on to mention the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, "an eloquent symbol of the end of the totalitarian Communist regimes of Eastern Europe," he said. "Europe and the entire world thirst for freedom and peace. Together we must build true civilisation, not founded on force but on the 'fruit of our victory over ourselves, over the powers of injustice, selfishness and hatred which can even go so far as to disfigure man.'"

"The ecumenical movement," he concluded, "can help to build [this civilization], working together with the Jews and with all believers. May God bless us and grant humankind the gift of peace."