Representatives of the Catholic Church in the European Union have called upon world leaders to choose the path of peace and to bring an end to the various armed conflicts around the world.
At a meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus, the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) echoed calls by Pope Leo XIV issued a communique saying, “Let those who have weapons lay them down! Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them!”
The meeting was held in Nicosia in part to recognise Cyprus’ presidency of the EU Council, which rotates every year. The bishops met with the Cypriot deputy minister of culture, Vasiliki Kassianidou, to discuss the continued division of the island.
Cyprus was divided into the Turkish aligned north and the south in 1974, following a Turkish invasion to prevent the success of a coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.
The incident is the closest that two NATO powers have ever come to an armed conflict.
The bishops used their visit to the Cyprus as an opportunity to remind the EU to prioritise resolving the division of the island. While there is little chance of armed conflict springing up again in Cyprus, little has been done to resolve the division of the island.
The physical division of the island means that some communities face restrictions and difficulties in accessing their places of worship.
The bishops also discussed the situation of Christians living in the Holy Land, hearing from Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, via video link. Earlier this week a Benedictine abbot warned that the decline of local Christian life in the Holy Land risks the region becoming a “Christian Disneyland”.
