Paven fordømmer forholdene for palestinske flyktninger

BETHLEHEM (CWNews.com) - During a March 22 visit to a Palestinian refugee camp, Pope John Paul II renewed his challenge to the international community to help the people living in such «degrading» conditions.

The Deheisheh camp, which was built in 1948 to accommodate Palestinians driven from the villages during the quest for Israeli statehood, now has 8,000 inhabitants. The Pope made a quick tour through the camp, and stopped in a cinder-block schoolroom to make his remarks about the conditions in which the refugees have now been living for more than half a century.

«Only a resolute commitment on the part of the leaders of the Middle East, and of the international community in general, can solve the causes of your current situation,» the Pope said. He then issued a call for all political leaders to make their contributions to the peace process.

The Pope saluted the humanitarian agencies which work with Palestinian refugees, urging them «do not be discouraged.» In particular he singled out the Catholic services and the UN's Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, which helps to administer dozens of camps in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria-- serving a total of over 2 million Palestinian refugees.

«I pray that my visit will bring you a bit of consolation in your suffering,» the Pope told the residents of the Deheisheh camp. He also said that he hoped his visit would call public attention to the plight of the refugee population.

At the conclusion of his remarks, the Pope spoke extemporaneously for several minutes, concentrating his attention on the young people in his audience. «You can never allow yourselves to think that your current condition makes you any less important in the eyes of God,» he assured them.

Catholic World News Service - Vatican Update