Caritas Pakistan's National Commission for Human Development conducted Aug. 10 a "Special Prayer Service for Peace in the Middle East" at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore, 270 kilometers southeast of Islamabad. Some 80 laypeople, more than 30 nuns and representatives of various organizations attended.

Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad, chairperson of Caritas Pakistan, and Capuchin Father Abid Habib, regional coordinator for the Pakistan major Religious superiors' Justice and Peace Commission, led the service, at which people meditated and prayed in silence for peace in the Middle East. Caritas is the local Church's organization for social service.

Addressing the gathering, Bishop Coutts condemned the killing of innocent people in the name of religion, saying that "misuse of religion has affected humanity a lot." Father Habib pointed out that only "the light of God can save the world plunged in darkness of hatred." Anila Jacqueline Gill, Caritas Pakistan's executive secretary, prayed for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East and other parts of the world experiencing conflict.

The bishop and a Caritas board member lit a peace candle, from which others lit their candles, reciting Saint Francis of Assisi's "Peace Prayer."

Earlier, Ambassadors of Love, Arts and Peace, a Christian NGO, organized a "Night for Peace" July 29 at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Hall in Lahore. More than 120 people from various religions and organizations were present.

Father James Channan, director of the Pastoral Institute in Multan, 630 kilometers south of Islamabad, denounced the "acts of barbarism and terrorism" by the Israeli assault that killed civilians in Lebanon.

The Dominican priest pointed out that founders and saints of different religions always played "a pioneering role to promote harmony in society." He added that peace building "is a continuous process."

According to Abid Hassan Manto, a Muslim lawyer and official of the Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy, the forces of hatred and war have nothing to do with religion or faith. The people's forum was founded in 1994 to promote peace, harmony and good relations between India and Pakistan.

Tanveer Jahan, director of the Democratic Commission for Human Development, an organization working for human rights education in Pakistan, agreed. "A peace campaign should focus on humanity rather than on individual religious identity," she suggested.

Her commission also condemned the Israeli assault on Lebanese civilians in its July 31 press statement. Expressing anguish, Waseem Anthony, the commission's executive director and a Catholic, decried violence as "no way to resolve disputes." He denounced the killing of civilian men, women and children by Israeli forces as "a condemnable sin."

Israel invaded Lebanon five weeks ago in a bid to crush Hezbollah (party of God), a Lebanese Shiite Islamic group, after a July 12 attack in which the group bombed border villages and outposts, killing eight Israeli soldiers and capturing two others. The Israeli campaign in southern Lebanon has claimed 1,300 lives, most of the dead being Lebanese civilians.

Media reports say a United Nations Security Council-brokered truce that began Aug. 14 is still holding despite some untoward incidents. Israel reportedly plans to withdraw and turn over some of its forward positions to U.N. troops within 10 days.

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