Your Beatitudes, Excellencies, Graces, Sisters and Brothers, I was asked, "Why does the Christian Church intervene in issues of justice and why does the Church make prayers for peace and write statements and take attitudes for peace? Doesn't this mean interference in politics? Isn't the role of the Christian Church to preach the gospel and hold prayers in the churches?"

I was surprised by these questions and felt obliged to answer, "How can the Christians sing Gloria and Kyrie Eleison and at the same time close their eyes to human issues pertinent to justice?"

The living Christian Church is the Church that remains faithful to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments, and at the same time carries a prophetic message to the society and the world in which it lives. When the Christian Church fulfills the mandate of its divine calling it helps in word and deed to create an environment conducive to peace. Through faithfulness in its life and activities as a community for peace, the Church in the power of the Holy Spirit becomes a presence for peace that serves, disturbs, reconciles and deliberates for peace. Thus the Church becomes the conscience of the world.

The Church is a disturbing presence when it refuses to be silent and instead speaks the truth in times when people shout out "Peace! Peace!" but there is no peace. Thus the prophetic Church always swims against the active wave of injustice in our world.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said: "It is part of the Church's office of guardianship that it should call sin by its name and that it will warn men and women against sin; for righteousness exalteth a nation, both in time and eternity. If the Church does not do this it will be incurring part of the guilt for the blood of the wicked. Only justice will save the world and humanity from wars, calamities and bloodshed." For this reason the prophetic Christian Church proclaims Jesus' words: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives." (John 14:27)

We are meeting today in this church to pray and to raise our prophetic voice together. We meet as the living Churches in Jerusalem in order that the voice of Jerusalem, which is the voice of truth, justice, peace and reconciliation, will be heard. We speak because the truth liberates. We meet today to join our prophetic voice with the other prophetic voices of the Christian world - the USA, Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, Asia, Australia - so that all these voices together will become the voice in the wilderness. Dear Sisters and Brothers, the Christian Church with its four families - Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical - is against any war because our Church is the Church that is experiencing the meaning of war. We know the meaning of destruction, death, oppression, injustice and even demolition of homes. It is a Church that suffers with all its members in order that her suffering will become a witnessing voice for justice, peace, truth and reconciliation.

We do not need war, for the war is destruction that kills innocent people - children, women, senior citizens - and it destroys the infrastructure of any country. But above all, war kills the humanity of human beings and destroys the image of God in us. For this reason we say what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, said: "If we assume that life is worth living and that human beings have a right to survival, then we must find an alternative to war. In a day when vehicles hurtle through outer space and guided ballistic missiles carve highways of death through the stratosphere, no nation can claim victory in war."

We do not want war because we believe that the political, peaceful means and efforts are not yet fully explored. We believe that God has given the 21st century human beings enough brains to solve its crises and differences by the power of logics, not by the logics of power.

We do not need war in Iraq because we know well that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be in the backyard of the politicians. As long as there is not a just, peaceful solution for this conflict that is the core problem in the Middle East, my fear is that peace, security and justice will not be implemented in the Middle East.

Instead of wasting the efforts and precious time of the politicians in planning for war and destruction, they must rise up to their responsibilities and implement the international legitimacy on all countries without exception. If the international legitimacy is implemented, then justice will be implemented and the nations in the Middle East can live in dignity, self-determination, equality and reconciliation.

We do not want war against Iraq because it may be interpreted as war between the West and the Muslim world. It may seem as if it is a conflict between religions that may proliferate religious and political extremism. We as Palestinian Christians know very well it is not a religious conflict but a conflict about power. For this reason, we appeal to the political decision makers: Let the Middle East be spared from such experiences.

Dear Sisters and Brothers, we would like to greet today all those who have a living conscience and all who are working for peace - from governments and churches, and all those representing the various religions. Your voice together is a voice that warns the world of the consequences of war and calls for just peace in our region. It's a voice that is not only appreciated but a voice that saves humanity from any destruction. We ask you to take seriously the words of the Prophet Micah. First Micah speaks of justice: "The Lord shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away." And then Micah speaks of changing destructive arms into technological, constructive instruments: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Micah 4:3)

Today we call from Jerusalem that all funding in the world which is used for arms, destruction, killing and bloodshed needs to be used instead to eradicate the chronic poverty in the world, and be used for education, for building a culture of peace instead of a culture of war and fear, for building bridges between nations. Perhaps my call is naïve, as was the call of Prophet Micah. My call may seem unrealistic when the drums of war are pounding loudly, but it is only through the implementation of justice that peace and security will be enjoyed.

Dear Sisters and Brothers, let us intensify our prayers today that God will prevent any war and will guide the leaders of this world to behave in a responsible way to save humanity. Let us pray together for the leaders of the nations, that they may use their authority to implement justice, peace, truth and reconciliation, remembering our Lord's beatitude: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9) May the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.