VATICAN CITY, March 20: Three cardinals, a rabbi and a mufti were among the first to sign a document calling for peace in the Middle East, said Dyonisia, the organisation collecting the signatures.

The document, called “The courage for peace” was signed by Cardinals Roger Etchegarray, former leader of the Vatican’s Justice and Peace Commission and Walter Kasper, head of the pontifical council for inter-Christian talks on Wednesday.

Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, formerly the Vatican’s congregation leader for Eastern churches, was another signatory.

Jerusalem’s grand mufti Sheikh Hkremeh Sabri and Rabbi Samuel Sirat, co-president of the Paris world conference of religions for peace, also put their names to the document.

Italian film maker Roberto Benigni was another voice calling for peace.—AFP