Pope Benedict XVI and U.S. bishops were among those who pleaded with world leaders for an end to the bloodshed in the Middle East, as violence continued in the volatile region early this week.

The pope --- who declared July 23 to be a day dedicated to prayer and penance, asking God to help bring about a peaceful solution to the war devastating the Middle East --- said he was particularly concerned about the "defenseless civilian population unjustly stricken in a conflict in which they are just victims."

Pope Benedict expressed his concern for all those who live in northern Israel and are forced to live in shelters as well as for "the great multitude of Lebanese who, once more, are seeing their country destroyed and had to leave everything behind to seek safety elsewhere," he said on a day dedicated to prayer for an end to the Middle East conflict.

As of July 24, the fighting had left more than three dozen Israelis and more than 370 Lebanese dead; hundreds of thousands have been displaced in Lebanon.

Israeli soldiers began fighting Hezbollah militants inside Lebanon's borders July 12 after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. Israel began attacking Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in June after an Israeli soldier was kidnapped by Hamas. Nearly 120 Palestinians have been killed in those attacks.

'Abandon armed confrontation'
Before praying the Angelus July 23, the pope called on people to pray for the "beloved people of the Middle East" so that they may be able to "abandon the path of armed confrontation and build, with the bravery of dialogue, a just and lasting peace."

In his July 23 address to some 5,000 pilgrims near his Alpine vacation retreat, the pope repeated his calls to all sides in the conflict to establish an immediate cease-fire, to allow the flow of humanitarian aid into the region, and, "with the support of the international community, to seek ways to begin negotiations."

He also reiterated the rights of Lebanon to have its sovereignty and borders respected, "of the Israelis to live in peace in their nation, and of the Palestinians to have a free and sovereign homeland."

The pope prayed that people's hopes for peace "may be realized as soon as possible, through the harmonious commitment of leaders."

Pope Benedict later spent the afternoon leading prayers for peace at a parish church in the nearby town of Rhemes-Saint-Georges. Speaking without a text, the pope told those gathered that there is no reconciliation in a world "still full of rancor and violence" and where "there is still war among Christians, Muslims and Jews."

The only way to respond to violence, he said, is with love. God's name is being abused in the world, he said, yet "the humble way to let God win" is through nonviolence and love, "not with the stronger empire."

"Deliver us from evil and grant us peace, Lord," the pope said. "Not tomorrow or the day after, grant us peace today."

The pope said the Vatican will leave diplomatic bargaining to other nations "because we do not get involved in politics even if we do everything for peace."

"Our purpose is simply peace, and we support everything that can facilitate and lead to peace," he said, just days before Rome was to host a July 26 international summit on the Israel-Lebanon conflict. Representatives of many Western and Arab nations were to attend.

The pope's charity arm, the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, announced July 22 that it was sending immediate aid in the pope's name to people fleeing the latest violence in Lebanon and Israel.

Money collected will be directed toward purchasing bedding, water, food kits and medicine for those displaced by the conflict.

'Do all you can'
The chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on International Policy called on Congress to "do all you can to end this terrible cycle of violence" in the Middle East.

In a July 20 letter to members of the Senate and House of Representatives, Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., said the bishops "stand ready to work with those who work for a just and lasting peace in the land that three faiths call holy."

The letter followed a July 18 statement from Bishop Wenski that said, "Violence, from whatever side, for whatever purpose, cannot bring a lasting or just peace," and came three days before a similar, but even more strongly worded, statement from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

"The horrific cycle of violence in the Middle East is destroying the lives of innocent people on all sides of the conflict," Bishop Wenski said in the letter to Congress. "It is also destroying the hopes for negotiations and accommodations that could lead to a just peace that offers genuine security to Israelis, a viable state for Palestinians and real independence for the Lebanese people."

"The Catholic community is deeply and urgently concerned about the human costs, the moral implications and future consequences of these unfolding events," he said.

In his earlier statement, Bishop Wenski said "rocket barrages and suicide bombings against innocent Israeli civilians and cross-border attacks and abductions" by extremist Palestinians, as well as Israel's "sweeping counterattacks on civilian areas, civilian infrastructure, blockades and other acts of war in Gaza and Lebanon" are actions "we cannot support."

The statement, "Break the Cycle of Violence in the Holy Land," was issued in response to escalating attacks on Israel in July by Palestine's Hamas faction and Lebanon's Hezbollah faction and Israel's retaliation for those attacks.

"The extreme armed factions of Hamas and Hezbollah, and their supporters, including Syria and Iran, bear grave responsibilities," Bishop Wenski said. "These attacks provoked Israeli military responses that are understandable in terms of the right to defense, but are disproportionate and indiscriminate in some instances."

Bishop Wenski said, "As committed friends of the Palestinian people, we understand the harsh realities of occupation and the yearning for a viable state of their own," but the attacks on Israel "violate the principle of civilian immunity and undermine the possibility of a negotiated resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

He added, "It is long past time for all Palestinian leaders, including Hamas, to reject violence and terror and to act in ways that will lead to the establishment of a viable state for the Palestinian people." Likewise, Bishop Wenski said, "It is also long past time for all state and nonstate actors in the region, including Hezbollah, to renounce violence, recognize Israel and respect its security."

The bishop also faulted Israel's counterattacks as "counterproductive because they deepen hostilities and widen the circle of violence. Israel must act with restraint. Otherwise we fear that Israel could isolate itself, undermine its long-term security interests and play into the hands of extremists who seek a wider confrontation and an unending battle with Israel."

In Lebanon, Bishop Wenski said, "the current conflict puts at risk the progress that has been made to free Lebanon from outside domination and from being used as a pawn in a larger struggle. Our (bishops') conference is deeply disturbed by the provocative acts of Hezbollah against Israel that precipitated the current crisis and provoked the disproportionate Israeli military responses."

Bishop Wenski called upon the United States to "exert greater leadership with all parties to the conflicts and to work more intensively and multilaterally to end the provocations and violence, to secure a cease-fire, to restrain Israel, to move toward negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians to bring about security for Israel and a viable state for the Palestinians, and to ensure the independence of Lebanon."

Iraq war 'inflamed hostilities'
In a statement issued July 23, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious called for "an immediate and unconditional cease-fire" by the Israeli army and Hezbollah militants.

"The Hezbollah militia, which does not act in the name of the Lebanese government, has gravely endangered the citizens of Lebanon, the young, fragile democracy of that nation, and the infrastructure that supports the country," the statement said.

"We condemn the disproportionate response of Israel, killing and wounding hundreds of citizens of Lebanon, and inflicting massive damage on the essential infrastructure of that country," the LCWR added. "We also condemn Israel's continued military actions against the Palestinian civilians of Gaza."

The organization, made up of more than 850 heads of U.S. religious orders of women, said the war in Iraq, "carried out with little understanding of the region's history or its culture, has greatly inflamed hostilities throughout the Middle East and contributed significantly to the present crisis."

The LCWR statement called on the Bush administration "to stop its obstructionist postures and delaying tactics at the United Nations and within the international community" and asked Congress "to act decisively and immediately mandate that the United States join with the international community to end the violence now."

---CNS