THE POPE CALLS MIDDLE EAST ENVOYS BACK TO THE VATICAN AS ISIS CONTINUES ITS DRAMATIC ADVANCES IN IRAQ, SYRIA, AND NEXT LEBANON!

Pope calls Mideast envoys to Vatican as Islamic State advances

BY STLLOYD OCTOBER 1, 2014 MIDDLE EAST CRISIS VATICAN

Pope Francis, who has expressed alarm over the rise of Islamic State militants and the plight of Christians in the Middle East, has summoned his envoys in the region to a rare meeting to discuss a response to the crisis, the Vatican said on Tuesday.The Oct. 2-4 gathering will include Vatican ambassadors to Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinians as well as representatives to the United Nations and the European Union.They will hold talks with more than a dozen top Vatican officials, including Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who addressed the United Nations on the Middle East crisis on Monday.Earlier this month during a visit to predominantly Muslim Albania, Francis issued a strong criticism of Islamist militants, saying no religious group which used violence and oppression could claim to be “the armor of God.”Islamic State has declared a “caliphate” in the territories it controls in Syria and Iraq and has killed or driven out large numbers of Christians, Shiite Muslims and others who do not subscribe to its hardline version of Sunni Islam.Asked about Islamic State last month when returning from a trip to South Korea, Francis endorsed action by the international community to stop “unjust aggression.”Parolin, the Vaticans top diplomat, told the the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.

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