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By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
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Rome
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While emphasizing that the primary purpose of the Oct. 10-24 Synod of Bishops for the Middle East is pastoral, Pope Benedict XVI yesterday sketched a vision of “harmonious development” for the region that the Italian newspaper *Corriere della Sera* summarized as “positive secularism” – premised on justice, peace, and respect for the human rights of all peoples and religions.
The pontiff spoke in the context of a homily for the synod’s opening Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. The working calendar begins today with the table-setting speech “before the discussion” by the synod’s relator, or general secretary, Patriarch Antonios Naguib of the Egyptian Coptic church.
“Living in a dignified manner in one’s own country is above all a fundamental human right,” the pope told participants in the synod, including more than 100 bishops from the six Catholic churches of the region: Armenian, Chaldean, Coptic, Maronite, Melkite, and Syrian, as well as the Latin Rite.
Toward that end, Benedict called upon the international community to promote “a stable path, loyal and constructive, towards peace.”More…