【慈幼通訊社 ─ 2014 年 09 月 22 日意大利羅馬訊】 ─ 國際明愛會會長，慈幼會士羅德里格斯樞機，於一場討論中東危機的明愛高層會議中表示，世界現正面對「自二次大戰以來最重大的人道災難」。

羅德里格斯樞機在演說中，強調在這樣的困境中，小孩被迫逃離在敘利亞的居所，不能到加沙地帶上學，而在伊拉克北部基督徒的居所，被寫上「納匝肋人」字句，以識別他們的身份。

在面對這些惡行時，樞機表示：「西方世界正嘗試建立軍事聯盟，派遣更多戰鬥機及無人戰鬥機到敘利亞及伊拉克。然而暴力絕不能解決問題，只會引發更多無謂的殺戮，正如教宗本篤十五世論及第一次世界大戰時所說的一樣。」

這名慈幼會樞機，在提及身處眾多危急戰線的救援隊伍，面對資源短缺的困難時表示：「對於明愛來說，首要任務是人道救援，這是非常重大的挑戰。」他接著說：「有很多國家，包括聯合國安全理事會成員國，已提供武器及彈藥，支援戰事及其引起的後果。很多國家在提供武器支援的同時，大部份卻減少在人道方面的援助，而這些國家是列於提供最多武器的國家中。這似乎與財政緊拙有關，以及把政治利益凌駕人身安全之上。」

羅德里格斯樞機接著又強調，中東地區需要持久的和平：停止向涉及戰事的國家運送武器；結束以色列對加沙走廊的封鎖政策；承認巴勒斯坦國的地位，並恢復1967年劃定的國界；致力為伊拉克及其他涉及戰事的國家締造和平 ─ 和平不能從外面強加，卻必需從內在培養。

樞機在總結時，邀請眾人付出自己的能力，並藉著祈禱，追求和平。

"The greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II"

 (ANS - Italy –Roma, 22 September 2014) – At a high-level meeting of Caritas on the crisis in the Middle East, the Salesian Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, President of Caritas Internationalis, said that the world is now facing "the biggest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War."

In his speech Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga highlighted the plight of children forced to flee their homes in Syria, those unable to go to school in Gaza, and the Christians of northern Iraq whose homes are marked with the initial of the word "Nazarene" to identify them.

In the face of so much evil, the Cardinal said, "the West is trying to build a military alliance and sending  more fighter jets and drones into Syria and Iraq. But violence is never the answer. It will only lead to more useless slaughter, as Pope Benedict XV said in relation to the Great War of 1914-1918. "

"For Caritas the first task is humanitarian. The challenge is enormous," said the Salesian Cardinal, noting the difficulty of dealing with emergencies on numerous fronts while there is a decrease in the available resources. He added: "A number of countries, including those of the United Nations Security Council, are providing weapons and ammunition to support the wars and their consequences. Many of the countries that are reducing their commitment to providing humanitarian aid are among those that provide the greatest number of weapons. It seems that there is not enough money for both, and political agendas are put before people."

Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga then highlighted the requirements for a lasting peace in the Middle East: stop sending weapons to countries at war; the end of Israel’s Blockade of the Gaza Strip; Israeli recognition of Palestine and the return of the two countries to the 1967 borders; and a commitment for peace in Iraq and other places at war - peace that cannot be imposed from the outside, but must be cultivated from within.

The Cardinal concluded his speech by inviting everyone to engage in the search for peace also through prayer.