Pope Benedict Opens Landmark Assembly of Mideast Bishops

Friday, Oct. 15, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI opened up a special two-week assembly of Middle East bishops Sunday in hopes of contributing toward peace efforts through the Church.

“This unique event demonstrates the interest of the entire Church for that precious and beloved part of the People of God who live in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East,” the pontiff stated during the mass to inaugurate the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Churches of the Middle East.

“It is the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the land of the Exodus and the return from exile; the land of the Temple and of the Prophets, the land in which the Only Begotten Son of Mary was born, lived, died, and rose from the dead; the cradle of the Church, established in order to carry Christ’s Gospel to the ends of the earth,” Benedict added. “And we too, as believers, look at the Middle East with this view, from the perspective of the history of salvation.”

For the next two weeks, 172 bishops will be discussing the future of Christian communities in the Middle East together with 14 Roman Curia officials, 14 non-Catholic Christians and 30 academic experts. Among the non-Catholics expected to join the Oct. 10-24 gathering in Rome are Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee and the Rt. Rev. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. the rest