AFRICA/EGYPT - Greek Melkite Bishop Chami: Prayer and fasting for peace and to drive out the demons that fuel wars

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Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - What "is happening in the world," says Bishop Jean-Marie Chami, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Vicar General of Egypt, Sudan, and South Sudan, challenges "all Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders," and "all those who speak in the name of their faith and religion," reminding them that "our spiritual traditions continually remind us that Peace is the will of God." He does so with a "letter-appeal" that calls on everyone "to Adoration for Peace."

Last Tuesday, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth quoted verses from Psalm 144 to pay tribute to US soldiers engaged in the war offensive in Iran: "Praise be to the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle," the American politician declared. "He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge," he continued, quoting the Psalm, and adding the request that "the Lord grant our warriors invincible strength and refuge, indestructible protection in our homeland, and total victory over those who seek to harm them. And Amen. God bless our troops and this mission."

In his letter, Bishop Chami quotes passages from the sacred books of various faith communities that testify to their love for peace. While the Torah recalls the precept of "offering" peace first ("When you draw near to a city to fight against it, you shall first offer it terms of peace"), in the Bible, in a passage from the Book of Numbers, we find the invocation/blessing also taken up by Saint Francis: "May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and beturn His face toward you and give you peace."

Bishop Chami continues by quoting the eighth Surah of the Qur'an ("If they incline to peace, then incline to it also and trust in God. Indeed He is the One who hears and knows."); he also recalls the Prophet Micah's announcement of the time when men "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 anymore." All these phrases and references make the enigma of wars unleashed and justified by resorting to religious arguments and language even more jarring and unbearable.
"Today," Bishop Chami continues, "families are leaving their homes. Peoples live in anguish and exile. Children are losing their childhood." And as Jesus says in the Gospel according to Mark, this kind of demon cannot be driven out "except through prayer and fasting."

In the conclusion of his letter, Bishop Chami invokes the gift of peace, entrusting himself to the intercession of Saint Francis, of Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified, "Patroness of the Holy Land and the Middle East," and also to the many "Holy Innocents" who are shedding their blood in the new wars and "have died innocently." (PR) (Agenzia Fides, 12/3/2026)