WASHINGTON (May 19, 1998) -- Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick of Newark, and Chairman of the U.S. Catholic International Policy Committee, has encouraged all parties in the Middle East peace talks to recommit themselves to the process to ensure a speedy "peace with justice" in the region.

His statement follows:

Despite the efforts of the Clinton administration, the Mideast peace process appears to have reached an impasse which threatens regional security and deprives both Israelis and Palestinians of their long-held hopes for peace with justice.

The only way forward is for all parties to recommit to the process begun in Oslo and affirmed in Washington in September 1993. We support U.S. efforts to encourage the parties to meet their obligations under the agreements they have already made. A final agreement ought to give true security to Israel and a homeland to Palestinians. Not every interest should be conceived as a matter of security and not every unattained goal an occasion for protest or intransigence. A spirit of compromise and accommodation on all sides is required.

Peace depends on providing security, justice and life with dignity for the two peoples and three faiths of the Holy Land. We pray that Almighty God, in whom all things are possible, will grant the courage and perseverance to find the way to peace together.

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