Look out, more scandals in the Catholic Church!

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Pope Appeals to End Bloodshed in Middle East

Pope Benedict has called for an "urgent and concerted international effort" to resolve tensions and end bloodshed in the Middle East, as he ends a 3-day trip to Cyprus.

The pontiff celebrated Mass Sunday near the capital, Nicosia.  Benedict said he would pray for Christians in the Middle East who suffer for their beliefs.

A document released by the Vatican Sunday said the international community is ignoring the plight of Christians in the Middle East.  The document also said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war in Iraq and political instability in Lebanon have forced thousands to flee the region.

The Vatican working paper on the Middle East will be presented in Rome in October during a meeting of 253 bishops, known as a synod.

The pontiff met Saturday with Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and the island's Maronite Christian community.  He also met with Turkish Cypriot Muslim leader Sheikh Nazim.  The symbolic meeting took place in the Holy Cross church in the U.N. buffer zone, which divides Greek and Turkish communities on the island.

Maronite Archbishop Youssef Soueif asked the pope to help return displaced Maronites to their homes in the northern Turkish-held part of Cyprus.  

President Christofias denounced the 1974 Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus and urged the international community to pressure Turkey to end the division of the island.  Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos accused Turkey of ethnic cleansing in the part of the island it controls.  He met with the pope shortly after his arrival in Cyprus Friday.

The pope's visit to the island has been overshadowed by the murder Thursday of the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Turkey, Bishop Luigi Padovese.

Pope Benedict did not visit the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus.

The island is split between a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north.  Greek Cypriots have accused the Turkish north of destroying Orthodox churches or turning them into shops and restaurants.  The Turkish side says the Greeks have wrecked mosques in the south.

The majority of Cypriots are Greek Orthodox Christians, who sometimes also clash with the Roman Catholic minority.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP.