Pope Francis called for the end of indifference to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, an indifference that kills

Pope Francis meets in Bari, Italy, with the patriarchs and leaders of the main Eastern Churches, to pray together for peace in the Middle East and to strengthen ecumenical ties.

During the prayer, the Holy Father called for fighting indifference to Christians persecuted, murdered and expelled from their lands in the Middle East, a homicidal indifference that kills.

After venerating together the remains of Saint Nicholas of Bari, a saint who unites the Christian traditions of East and West, the Pontiff and the Patriarchs moved to the seafront of the city, where they prayed together.

Before beginning the prayer, Francis uttered a few words in which he called for abandoning indifference and giving voice to those who suffer from war, violence and fundamentalism, so that the Middle East, where Christianity is born, does not remain empty of Christians.

"Indifference kills", "he warns," and we want to be a voice that fights the homicide of indifference. We want to give voice to those who have no voice, who can only tear tears, because today the Middle East cries, suffers and keeps silent, while d & # 39; Others trample him in search of power and wealth. For the little ones, the simple, the wounded, for those who have God on their side, we implore: "Peace with you".

The bishop of Rome explained that "we arrived as pilgrims in Bari, a window open to the Middle East, carrying in our hearts our churches, the peoples and so many people who live in situations of great suffering. We say to them, "We are close to you!", Exclaimed the Pontiff.

Francisco says: "We feel impelled to live this journey with our minds and hearts directed to the Middle East , crossroads of civilizations and cradle of the great monotheistic religions. "

In the Middle East" the Lord visited us. From there, the light of faith has spread throughout the world. He has sprung fresh sources of spirituality and monasticism. There are preserved unique ancient rites and priceless riches of sacred art and theology; he lives the inheritance of the great Fathers in the faith. "

" This tradition is a treasure that we must keep with all our strength, because in the Middle East are the roots of our very souls. "

However, regretted that" in this magnificent region has concentrated, especially in recent years, a dense cloud of darkness: war, violence and destruction, occupations and various forms of fundamentalism, forced migration and abandonment, and all this in the silence of "

" The Middle East, he continues, has become a land of people leaving their own country.There is a risk that the presence of our brothers and sisters in the faith be extinct, disfiguring the same face of the region, because a Middle East without Christians would not be the Middle East. "

The Pope recalled that of the world, but not only when everything around you radiates, but also when, in the dark moments of history, you do not resign yourself to the darkness that surrounds everything and nurtures the lash of hope with the oil of prayer and love. "

" Because when you hold out your hands to heaven in prayer and you give your brother 's hand without seeking your own interest, the fire of the Spirit shines and shines, Spirit of. unity, Spirit of peace.

Therefore, he asked to pray together, "to ask the Lord of heaven for peace that the mighty of the earth have not yet been able to find." From the course of the Nile to the Jordan Valley and beyond. beyond, through the Orontes, the Tigris and the Euphrates, resounds the cry of the Psalm: "Peace with you." For the suffering brothers and for the friends of each people and religion, we repeat: "Peace with you" "

" With the psalmist, we implore it in a special way for Jerusalem, the holy city loved by God and wounded by men, over whom the Lord still cries: "Peace with you, "he concluded.