On Thursday, the Vatican summoned ambassadors accredited to the Holy See to outline its position on Syria, with Foreign Minister Archbishop Dominique Mamberti noting that the Aug. 21 attack had generated "horror and concern" around the world.
"Confronted with similar acts one cannot remain silent, and the Holy See hopes that the competent institutions make clear what happened and that those responsible face justice," Mamberti told the 71 ambassadors gathered.
He didn't refer explicitly to the threat of military strikes to punish the Syrian regime for the attack. But he said the main priority must be to stop the violence which he said risked involving other countries and creating "unforeseeable consequences in various parts of the world."
The Vatican, he said, wants a return to dialogue and for the country to not be split up along ethnic or religious lines.
Minorities, including Christians, must have their basic rights guaranteed, including their right to profess their religion, he said. And he called for the opposition to distance itself from extremists, isolate them "and openly and clearly oppose terrorism" a reference to the al-Qaida-affiliated rebels fighting against the government.
The Assad family's four-decade iron rule over Syria long has rested on support from the country's ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians, Shiite Muslims and Kurds. As a result, the Catholic Church has toed a careful line on Syria, staying largely silent at the start of the civil war even after the regime's brutal crackdown on dissent.
As the violence raged, Pope Benedict XVI and later Francis stepped up calls for dialogue. And amid the U.S. threat of military intervention, officials in the region and at the Vatican have warned that any outside military intervention will only exacerbate tensions, with Christians in the region bearing the brunt of the fallout.
On Wednesday, the superior general of Francis' Jesuit order, the Rev. Adolfo Nicolas, told a Catholic news agency that military action by the U.S. and France would be an "abuse of power."
"I cannot understand who gave the United States or France the right to act against a country in a way that will certainly increase the suffering of the citizens of that country, who, by the way, have already suffered beyond measure," he was quoted as saying in the interview, the text of which was released by a Vatican-affiliated spokesman.
In the United States, the head of the U.S. bishops' conference, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, wrote a letter to members of Congress urging them not to resort to military strikes. He cited bishops in the region as warning that any outside military intervention would be counterproductive, particularly given the lack of international consensus.
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