{"id":17680,"date":"2026-03-03T09:19:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T14:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?p=17680"},"modified":"2026-03-03T09:19:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T14:19:31","slug":"urgent-prayers-for-a-return-to-dialogue-in-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/urgent-prayers-for-a-return-to-dialogue-in-the-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Urgent Prayers for a Return to Dialogue in the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Catholic clergy called for prayer and peace following U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran on 28 February that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as senior leaders and civilians.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe pray that there be a return to dialogue, diplomacy, justice and peace,\u201d said Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari, president of Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) and Pontifical Mission for Palestine, in a statement to OSV News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Msgr. Vaccari said he had spoken to each of CNEWA\/Pontifical Mission for Palestine\u2019s regional directors in Jerusalem, Beirut and Amman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I assured them, their families, and the families of all our staff, of our prayers at this very difficult hour,\u201d he said, adding that the \u201chighest immediate priority is the safety of our staff and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described the regional teams\u2019 works as \u201cgreat and heroic,\u201d and \u201cextraordinary testaments\u201d to the organization\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur teams throughout the region work long hours on behalf of the churches and peoples whom we are committed to serve,\u201d said Msgr. Vaccari. \u201cTheir lives and schedules are the living translation of the Gospel question \u2018Who is my neighbor?\u2019 as they are there for everyone!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the strikes 28 February, Iran and Iranian-backed militias retaliated, attacking U.S. allies and bases in the Middle East as well as in Israel and Arab states. The fighting spread, including an escalation of airstrikes<\/a> between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel. News reports showed streams of cars as people tried to evacuate southern Lebanon, including the southern suburbs of Beirut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Vatican on Sunday, 1 March, Pope Leo XIV told pilgrims gathered for his Angelus address he was \u201cfollowing with deep concern<\/a> what is happening in the Middle East and in Iran during this tumultuous time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFaced with the possibility of a tragedy of immense proportions, I make a heartfelt appeal to all the parties involved to assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an unbridgeable chasm,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMay diplomacy regain its proper role, and may the well-being of peoples, who yearn for peaceful existence founded on justice, be upheld. And let us continue to pray for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement to OSV News, Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar M. Warda of Irbil, Iraq, referenced the 2003 U.S-led invasion of Iraq in retaliation for the 9\/11 terror attacks. Archbishop Warda said he \u201cwitnessed the years of violence, displacement and bombings that shook Iraq after 2003.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are not chapters in a book for us. They are memories we still carry,\u201d Archbishop Warda stressed. \u201cWe know what sirens sound like in the middle of the night. We know what it means for a child to fall asleep, afraid. We know the silence of empty streets, the fear in a mother\u2019s eyes, the pain of families who leave their homes not knowing if they will ever return.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For that reason, said Archbishop Warda, \u201cWhen we see tensions rising again in our region, we do not see it as distant news. We feel it in our hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery new escalation reopens wounds that have not fully healed,\u201d he said. \u201cOur people are still recovering, emotionally, economically, spiritually, from the wars of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Middle East does not need another war,\u201d Archbishop Warda said. \u201cOur children deserve stability. Our families deserve peace. Ordinary people have already paid too high a price for conflicts they did not choose.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran escalated tensions in the Middle East, where CNEWA works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70080,"featured_media":17684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"class_list":["post-17680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUrgent Prayers for a Return to Dialogue in the Middle East | CNEWA Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/urgent-prayers-for-a-return-to-dialogue-in-the-middle-east\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Urgent Prayers for a Return to Dialogue in the Middle East\" 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