Episcopal Press and News
A Statement from the Most Rev. Samir Kafity on the Israeli-Palestinian Accord
Episcopal News Service. September 17, 1993 [93164]
The Most Rev. Samir Kafity , President bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East
From the mother city of Christian faith and the city sacred to our sister religions, Judaism and Islam, we send you the greeting of peace. Tonight we celebrate, both Palestinian and Israeli, together with the multitude of people who care for peace and justice, the inauguration of the journey of peace.
This journey, starting today from Jericho and Gaza, will undoubtedly reach all of the towns and cities in the Palestinian territories. Together with our neighbors, Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, we look forward to a new era of justice and peace in the Middle East.
It is perhaps providential that this multi-faith prayer is being offered in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in the United States of America, echoing the many services and prayers for justice and peace offered in its sister Cathedral of St. George the Martyr in Jerusalem. We shall continue to pray here in St. George's Cathedral with our Muslim and Jewish sisters and brothers for God's blessing on this journey of peace: a prayer that all the people of this region might live in the perfect image of God.
We thank you for standing with us, for strengthening and sustaining us in this journey which our two great Episcopal Churches have supported together. We are delighted that my brother, the Most Reverend Edmond L. Browning, himself a dedicated peacemaker, is sharing our message with you at this historic service.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."
The Most Rev. Samir Kafity President bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East