JOHN PAUL II THANKS ROACO FOR AID TO EASTERN CHURCHES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 26, 2003 (VIS) - Seventy participants in the annual meeting of ROACO, the Works of Assistance to the Oriental Churches, were welcomed by the Pope this morning. He thanked them for their generous aid to and support of the Christian Churches of the Orient, mentioning in particular their assistance in the Holy Land and Iraq.

ROACO, under the auspices of the Congregation for Oriental Churches, is composed of 19 different organizations throughout the world including the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, the Pontifical Mission for Palestine, Misereor, Aid to the Suffering Church, the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and Work of the East, to name but a few. Members provide financial as well as spiritual assistance.

The Pope said that ROACO's help to these churches is "even more appreciated, bearing in mind the dramatic events of recent times. I am thinking of the recent war in Iraq, the conflict in the Holy Land which, unfortunately, is never-ending, and also of the continual famine in Eritrea and Ethiopia." Not only must economic assistance be intensified, he said, but "it is necessary to make the spirit of divine charity grow."

The Holy Father noted that "the Holy Land continues to be a theater of conflicts and violence and the Catholic communities there are suffering and need to be supported and helped in their many urgent situations. A heartfelt cry arises from those populations, invoking a stable and lasting peace."

He expressed his gratitude to ROACO for "the thoughtful solidarity you showed towards the Christians so very tried by the recent conflict in Iraq. I pray God that peace will quickly be consolidated in that country and that the populations, so tried because of a lengthy international isolation, can finally live in harmony."

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