VATICAN, April 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies)- As the siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem by Israeli occupation troops continues into its sixth day, Pope John Paul II called on the world's Christians to pray for peace in the Middle East.
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is divided among various Christian denominations.
But after the evacuation of several orthodox priests and monks, a group of about 40 Franciscan monks and nuns, who live in the adjoining convent, are now the center of attention, BBC’s online news service reported.
They have told their religious superiors in Rome that they fear that the Israeli occupation troops surrounding the Church of the Nativity are planning an all-out assault on the church allegedly claiming that there are some 200 Palestinian activists who have taken refuge inside.
The Franciscans said they want to stay there as official guardians of one of the holiest places in Christendom, where, according to tradition, Jesus Christ was born.
They do not want to be freed by Israeli occupation troops, they said, BBC’s online news service reported.
The day of prayer for peace, ordered by the Pope, began on Sunday April 7, with a candlelight vigil in Assisi in central Italy, the birthplace of Saint Francis.
Later in the day, the Pope will lead prayers for peace at St Peter's Basilica, BBC said.
He is expected to refer to the dramatic situation around the Church of the Nativity in his midday address to pilgrims in Rome.
Although the Vatican is involved in behind-the-scenes negotiations in occupied Jerusalem to end the standoff in Bethlehem, the Vatican has denied that it has a new peace plan.
Earlier in the day, the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM) Father Giacomo Bini launched an appeal saying: “Do not totally abandon us, help us to save the peace and the innocent population.”
“Even if there is a winner tomorrow, in reality we will all be defeated”, said Father Bini in a press conference held in the OFM General Curia in Rome. “If one has suffered from an injustice, he must feel he has the right to make others suffer, otherwise we shall never find a solution”, declared Bini in front of the journalists.
The Franciscans have decided to officially let their voice be heard in relation to the last tragic events that are devastating the Holy Land and the properties assigned to the Custody of the Friars Minor.
Father Bini wanted to underline that “the 40 Franciscan brothers and the 4 nuns are ‘voluntary hostages’ and if up until now there has been no bloodshed, it is thanks to them and to the particular character of the Church of the Nativity, which evidently induces the soldiers to have respect”.
The Minister General of the Franciscans has also confirmed that “one of the doors of the Church of the Nativity was destroyed by the Israeli forces, but they have not yet penetrated into the Church,” the Vatican Missionary Service news agency reported.
