“Heart full of sorrow”, pope urges prayer and effective action in Middle East

At a special audience for ministrants, Benedict XVI condemned the massacre in Qana and the “spilling of innocent blood from whichever part it comes”. He called on 35,000 altar servers to be “witnesses” of nearness to Jesus, and to heed calls to the priesthood.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – With “a heart full of sorrow” and the “chilling images of mangled bodies of so many people, especially children,” before his eyes, Benedict XVI appealed once again for prayers “for the dear, martyred region of the Middle East”, for more effective commitment from the international community for an “immediate cessation of all hostilities” and for “conditions for a definitive political solution to the crisis”.

Recalling in particular the massacre in Qana in Lebanon, the pope said: “I wish to repeat that nothing can justify the spilling of innocent blood, no matter from which part it comes!”

Benedict XVI emphasized that only a “definitive political solution to the crisis” will be capable of “delivering a more serene and safe future for generations to come”.

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