The Most Rev Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, has today written to the parish priest of Gaza to express his prayerful support and to call for an end to violence in the region.
In a letter to Mgr Manuel Musallam, Archbishop Kelly says: “We may not remain silent and must call on everyone to place at the centre of every decision the needs of children and all those who are most vulnerable.”
Full text of letter appears below:
23 January 2008
Dear Father Musallam,
Both Bishop William Kenney, Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, and I have just returned from a visit to the Holy Land. It was very clear that there can be no secure justice and peace for the peoples of this land which leaves out Gaza. Together with the Churches of the Holy Land we will never be silent in the face of violence. To violence is now added the undermining of life, especially for the most vulnerable in Gaza, by the closure of access for aid and restrictions to the supply of energy. We may not remain silent and must call on everyone to place at the centre of every decision the needs of children and all those who are most vulnerable. You are and your people are very much in our prayers at this time.
Yours devotedly in Christ,
+Patrick Kelly
Archbishop of Liverpool