Mideast Catholic bishops

Roman Catholic bishops from the Middle East urged the U.N. to take steps to end Israel's occupation of Arab territories and enable a two-state solution.

"The Palestinian people will thus have an independent and sovereign homeland where they can live with dignity and security," the bishops said, together with other Roman Catholic bishops from around the world, in an October document, "An Appeal to Safeguard the Faith."

The document also stated: "Recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable."