Hizbollah's Memorandum to H.E. Pope John Paul II
H.E. Pope John Paul II
On the occasion of your pastoral visit to Lebanon, we are interested in talking with Your Excellency about some central and substantial issues and affairs we deemed them very important to our people and its fate.
Faith as a Human Necessity
Representing one of the most important religious authorities in the world, Your Honor interests in guiding mankind towards the Supreme God, The Creator, The Originator, The Repeater as well as in establishing man-to-man relationship on the basis of divine values which embody the spiritual highness in the social system and morals, and thus allowing the human society to live under justice, security and peace.
Certainly, Your Honor knows that power became the principal norm in relationships among individuals and communities.
Moreover, the current international political developments came not to further mankind's faith in God as a natural harmony with human nature, but to increase the power of prevailing material trends.
The globalization climate and the spread of market-economy values had broken down the last material bonds imposed by post-Cold War social circumstances of intellectual-political conflict.
So, the national and international social relations had became free of minimun rules that respect the rights of persecuted people to live a good life.
Under the increasing domination of capital on economical operations and media, the human societies had lost the rules of balance & stability among their individuals and between each other, especially the media which is, now, playing a significant role in forming the cultural identity of nations.
Since any of the materialistic schools didn't last as a political-social regime, the great crises, such as starvation, poverty, pollution, corruption and wars emphasize the failure of the materialistic schools in organizing, safely, the human life and its development.
Today, we are badly in need of the essence of prophecy to restore the spiritual illuminations of devine values in a world suffers crises of starvation, crime, anxiety and frustration.
An immediate mission, and which is represented in rescuing the humanity from ferocity of competition values and restoring it to the shade of devine values, imposes itself on faithfuls throughout the world. This can, only, be realized through word of right and justice before tyrants.
As to mankind, depriving him from the right and hope makes death with honor much better than death with shame.
Defending the values of faith and settling the devine concepts among the human societies are worthier than competition and racing to gather and attract followers. Instead, the cooporation between religious sects and schools is urgently required today.
Liberating Al-Quds
Today, you are coming to a region suffered a tragedy for a long time. Tragedy of peoples afflicted by confiscating their right of self-determination. The result was a predominance of great powers which prefer their own interests to ambitions and rights of peoples.
The tragedy reached a peak when a nation was, completely, displaced in pretense of establishing a safe homeland for another people regardless of historical and geographical facts.
Furthermore, the tragedy and its aftermath are going to be settled as a fact has its international legality through making pressures on persecuted peoples to waive, completely, certain territorial rights for dispersed lands and feeble entity.
This international way in treating Palestine issue turned into threatening Al-Quds itself. This city viewed by Moslems, as well as by Christians, with sanctity, for it is Moslems' kiblah (direction to which Moslems turn in prayer) and place of Prophet Mohammad's ascension to the seven heavens. So, it is a symbol of terminating the faith journey and gate to supreme world. It is intended to be eternal capital for aggressive and racial entity.
This sacred city in Christian conscience is on the way of evacuating it from Arab presence, both Islamic and Christian. This presence is in constant decrease because of the adopted political way in undermining .
The silence will not lead but to strengthening the Israeli domination on Al-Quds and to more indifference from many in the world.
So, it is very well to be pointed out that to put an end to silence and indifference is to take a clear ecclesiastic decision calls for liberating Al-Quds from Zionist occupiers.
Fighting Occupiers is a Devine Human Right
Honored by your kind visit, our country still has a precious part of its land under Israeli occupation for about twenty years. Daily killing and seasonal massacres can be seen throughout of its land. The Israeli enemy depends on an aggressive great power and absolute support by U.S.A which supplies it with tremendous military equipment and great political coverage.
Because of belief and belonging to our homeland, we found ourselves in a position requires us to fight the enemy and occupier as free lliberated people does.
Also, we know that in your letter about Bosnian civil war you asserted on sanctity of self-defense right and legality of using arm for that purpose.
Israeli enemy and its American ally consider that fighting the aggressor is illegal action. Achieving this aim, they employed their political and informative efforts utilizing from their strict control on international public opinion institutions.
We address ourselves to Your Honor with a hope that you will support the resistance of our persecuted people. The rightful and fair case held by the persecuted martyrs who fell in terrible massacres at Qana, Al-Mansouri, Sohmor and Al-Nabatieh, and those who sacrified by them-selves in fighting Israeli enemy in Southern Lebanon and West Beqaa not less than that rightfulness and fairness of the case held by Polonian workers at Gdunsk. The difference in denomination is not a reason to degrade the human right.
Lebanon is a Message of Faith and Common Coexistence
You had described Lebanon as a message more than a homeland. As a Lebanese, we had, honorably, accepted to live all in this Arab country under a regime ensures justice and equality in the rights and obligations of individuals and communities, especially, the right of religious freedom and its personal and social requirements.
Characterizing by religious, cultural, political, intellectual and factional variety, Lebanon should abide by public freedoms principle in legislative and executive procedures.
In Lebanon, each factional or confessional community has its own system of ideas. But neither the private affair has to crack or part the homeland nor the public one has to revoke, oppressively, the specifics of communities.
This accurate balance between the private and public evokes a direct and open dialogue among all Lebanese groups apart from prior judgements and fears.
Therefore, the fabricated and invented concentration on raising mutual fears will scatter any hope to build up this nation which is big enough to hold all of its citizens.
Islamic-Christian Dialogue
Dialogue is a prophetic style and so were Prophet Mohammad and Prophet Jesus(peace be upon them) in enlightening and guiding their people to God's worship.
Since dialogue represents an introduction to constructive and productive cooporation, we take an oppoutunity to express our wish in speeding up the steps of Islamic-Christian dialogue and transferring it to ather fields of cooperation. The part of them had been achieved before some of international boards, especially before Cairo's Population Conference.
It is to be pointed out that some of your recent comments and statements, concerning Jews, had left negative impressions among Islamic peoples who had suffered the oppression of international policies. These persecuted peoples are badly in need of supporting their principal human rights. Also, they are looking forward to enhance the dialogue and cooporation between Moslems and Christians.
Finally, we indicate that the real and productive dialogue should not confine on political official authorities, since they do not represent the real and whole political-social tissue of their country.
His Excellency Pope,
Welcome to our beloved Lebanon. Hopefully, your blessed visit will conclude with great success.
May 10, 1997