The Holy See has renewed its call for international cooperation to bring to an end the conflicts in the Middle East and help care for the millions of refugees from Iraq and the Syrian war, Vatican Radio reported Friday.
Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Holy See's permanent Permanent Observer to the UN, said the “dramatic humanitarian situation” in Syria is “particularly preoccupying.”
In a speech to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, Auza urged a renewed commitment by all to achieve a political solution to the conflict.
"We should not continue to look helplessly from the sidelines while a great country is being destroyed,” said Auza, quoted by Vatican Radio.
The entire international community must pull together to thwart the Sunni miliant group Islamic State, which controls territory in Syria and Iraq, Auza said, describing IS as "a terrorist plague".
Lebanon and Jordan, which host millions of refugees, bear the brunt of Syria's brutal four-year-old conflict and urgently need the world’s solidarity, Auza added.
The Holy See hopes that the current institutional vacuum of Lebanon’s presidency (constitutionally held by a Christian but vacant for more than a year amid resurgent sectarian tensions) will soon be filled, Auza said.
He reiterated Vatican's concern for the region’s minorities, particularly its Christians, who have been forced from their homes and welcomed the recent accord reached between Iran and western powers over its nuclear programme.
Recalling the landmark accord signed by the Holy See and the State of Palestine in June, Auza said he hoped it would aid “achievement of a two State solution, bringing a definitive end to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” reported Vatican Radio.
