VATICAN CITY
(AP) -- Pope Francis urged the Group of 20 leaders on Thursday to
abandon the "futile pursuit" of a military solution in Syria as the
Vatican laid out its case for a negotiated settlement that guarantees
rights for all minorities, including Christians.
In
a letter Thursday to the G-20 host, Russian President Vladimir Putin,
Francis lamented that "one-sided interests" had prevailed in Syria,
preventing a diplomatic end to the conflict and allowing the continued
"senseless massacre" of innocents.
"To the
leaders present, to each and every one, I make a heartfelt appeal for
them to help find ways to overcome the conflicting positions and to lay
aside the futile pursuit of a military solution," Francis wrote as the
G-20 meeting got under way in St. Petersburg.
Francis
has ratcheted up his call for peace in Syria amid threatened U.S.-led
military strikes following an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near
Damascus.
He will host a peace vigil in St.
Peter's Square on Saturday, a test of whether his immense popular appeal
will translate into popular support for his peace message.
On
Thursday, the Vatican summoned ambassadors accredited to the Holy See
to outline its position on Syria, with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti,
the Vatican's foreign minister, noting that the Aug. 21 attack had
generated "horror and concern" from 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 was 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, called for 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. The Assad family and key regime
figures are Alawites, followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam, while
most rebels and their supporters are Sunni Muslims.
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, the Vatican stepped
up its call for dialogue. And amid the U.S. threat of military
intervention, Vatican and church officials have warned that a world war
could erupt, with Christians in the region bearing the brunt of the
fallout.
On Wednesday, the head 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.
This
week, Syrian government troops have been battling al-Qaida-linked
rebels over Maaloula, a regime-held Christian village in western Syria.
Some of its 2,000 residents still speak a version of Aramaic, the
ancient language of biblical times believed to have been spoken by
Jesus.
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Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
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