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================================================== ZENIT News Agency, The World Seen from Rome ================================================== Pope Calls for Penance, Prayer This Sunday For Immediate Cease-fire in Middle East VATICAN CITY, JULY 20, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Given the escalation of violence, Benedict XVI has named Sunday as a day of prayer and penance for peace in the Middle East. A communiqué issued today by the Vatican press office said the decision was due to the "great concern" with which the Holy Father follows "the fate of all the affected peoples." With this initiative, the Pope invites "the pastors and faithful of all the particular Churches, and all believers of the world, to implore from God the precious gift of peace," explained the Vatican communiqué. In particular, the Bishop of Rome appeals for prayer to the Lord "for an immediate cease-fire between the sides, for humanitarian corridors to be opened in order to bring help to the suffering peoples and for reasonable and responsible negotiations to begin to put an end to objective situations of injustice that exist in that region." According to the Pontiff, "the Lebanese have the right to see the integrity and sovereignty of their country respected, the Israelis, the right to live in peace in their state, and the Palestinians have the right to have their own free and sovereign homeland." The communiqué ends with Benedict XVI's appeal "to charitable organizations to help all the people struck by this pitiless conflict." ZE06072009 =================================================== ZENIT is an International News Agency. To receive ZENIT News Services by e-mail, FREE Subscription at: http://www.zenit.org/english/subscribe.html For reprint permission, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit our web page at http://www.zenit.org/ SEND US YOUR NEWS: Please send press releases, statements and other information to our international news desk at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright (c) - Innovative Media, Inc. =================================================== You can send this news to a friend at the following link: http://www.zenit.org/english/send_friend/[EMAIL PROTECTED]&sid=92876 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Something is new at Yahoo! Groups. Check out the enhanced email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/SISQkA/gOaOAA/yQLSAA/wpWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> "[M]y ministry is that of servus servorum Dei." --Pope John Paul II (Ut Unum Sint, no. 88) "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it." --Matthew 16:18 Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pope-John-Paul-II/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
