Here is the full text of his letter:

To Our beloved Brothers in the Lord The Heads of Churches in Lebanon

Grace and Peace from the Lord Jesus Christ at this traumatic time for you and the people of Lebanon.

Today, as thousands of foreign passport-holders are evacuated from Beirut, I am only too conscious of the plight of those, from all communities, who have no place of refuge from the violence that has been unleashed. It pains us all greatly to see again the ancient Christian communities of the Middle East fleeing the land where they have borne witness for two millennia and to contemplate the hardships that will be faced by those who stay.

I have been alarmed at the spiral of violence, the vicious circle of attack and retaliation, that has developed over the last few days. My prayers and sympathy are with the principal victims, the innocent civilians on both sides of the border, who now live in terror and are powerless to prevent the collective suffering at the hands of Hizballah and the Israeli military. The distress felt at the destruction not only of life but also the infrastructure so painstakingly rebuilt after years of conflict will, I know, be acute and reinforce the sense of helplessness at being caught up in a wider regional struggle. My condemnation of this resort to violence is unequivocal. I offer you every support in your efforts to bring it to an end and allow Lebanon to be, once again, a living message of co-existence and solidarity between different religious communities.

Remembering the times we have met, even recently, I look forward to the chance to do so again in calmer times - either here or in Lebanon. Although our Christian message may seem, in these dark days, a small voice in a terrible wilderness of suffering it is delivered in the confidence that God's purposes for us and his people will prevail and that purpose is one of peace, harmony and reconciliation.

May our Lord Jesus Christ give you, as chief pastors of his flock, every strength and blessing in your ministry.

++ Rowan Cantuar

MIDDLE EAST: Galilee sites where Jesus performed miracles hit by Hezbollah rockets

By Michele Green

[Source: Ecumenical News International] Galilee sites where Jesus is said to have performed miracles have been hit by Hezbollah rocket fire as fighting deepened between Israel and the militant movement which is based in Lebanon.

Hezbollah rockets hit targets near Nazareth, Jesus' childhood home town, as well as Tiberias and the banks of the Sea of Galilee in Israel where the Gospels say that Jesus walked on water, performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes and calmed a storm.

"I sat on a bench facing the Sea of Galilee with my grandson and son and heard two fall and a few seconds later we heard a great explosion and we understood that it had hit close by," the former mayor of Tiberias, Asher Yaish, told Israel's Channel One Television on July 15 after a rocket strike.

World Christian leaders including Pope Benedict XVI and the Rev. Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, have expressed alarm at the new violence in northern Israel and in Lebanon. They have strongly urged all parties to stop hostile acts immediately.

The Pope on July 16 noted from Italy "the many victims among the civilian population." The roots of the conflict, he said, were found in "violations of rights and of justice."

On July 13, Kobia said, "The use of force and the harsh rhetoric of war are driving the new government of Israel and its neighboring states deeper into a chasm of killings and destruction, and further away from the prospect of peace."

Nearly 200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, and 24 Israelis have been killed in six days of fighting triggered by rocket attacks and the capture of two Israel soldiers by Hezbollah that was followed by Israeli aerial bombardments of the militant group's strongholds. Attacks were also launched on Lebanese infrastructure in the southern suburbs of Beirut and southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has since attacked Haifa with rockets.

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