Catholic leaders have called for negotiations to prevent a civil war in Syria, where the conflict between government supporters and opponents is being compared to last year's fight for control of Libya.

"Everybody is suffering in Syria because there is violence coming from every side," Maronite Archbishop Paul N. El-Sayeh of Antioch told the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need in remarks released Feb. 20.

"It is a desperate situation," the Beirut-based Lebanese archbishop said of the violence taking place across the border in Syria. "I wish everyone would sit down and negotiate. Problems cannot be solved by violence."

Archbishop El-Sayeh's hope for peace in Syria is shared by Pope Benedict XVI, who renewed his appeal for Syrians "to put an end to violence and bloodshed" in a recent Angelus address. The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land has also voiced its concern for the country in recent days.

But there were few signs of any lasting peace on Feb. 20, as the Syrian military advanced on regime opponents in the city of Homs. The mobilization comes one week before a scheduled vote on a new constitution that could give more freedom to rivals of President Bashar al-Assad.

"In these months of great tension, when Syria is being torn apart by internal clashes, and where the conflict seems to be assuming more and more the form of a civil war, the Franciscans  are committed to supporting the local Christian population," wrote the superior of the Franciscans in the Middle East.

The custos noted that Franciscan monasteries' medical facilities have become places of refuge for all Syrians, "regardless of whether they are Alawite, Sunni, Christian, rebels or government-supporters."