The Holy Land Thread

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: National Catholic Reporter / OSV News
Link: ncronline DOT org/news/us-bishops-pray-peace-following-hamas-attack-israel

US bishops pray for peace following Hamas' attack on Israel

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OSV News — Several U.S. bishops called for prayers for peace following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, called for prayers for peace in the Holy Land and decried the "continued tensions and violence that erupted into warfare between Gaza and Israel."

"The world is once again shocked and horrified by the outbreak of ferocious violence in the Holy Land. Reports have surfaced indicating large numbers of wounded and dead, including many civilians," Malloy said in an Oct. 8 statement.

On Oct. 7, Hamas militants launched a surprise attack in southern Israel with missiles and a ground invasion during which an estimated 700 Israeli soldiers and citizens were killed, while dozens others were taken hostage and brought to Gaza. Thousands of people in Palestinian territories were injured and an estimated 400 others dead from Israel's retaliation, including airstrikes that began hours following the Hamas attack.

"As we pray urgently for peace, we recall especially all the families and individuals suffering from these events," Malloy’s statement said, adding calls for respect for civilian populations and the release of hostages. "Almost 50 years to the day of the launch of the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, once again war is spilling out in the Holy Land. With it brings the mounting casualties and hostilities unfolding on all sides, and increased threats to the Status Quo of the Holy Places among Jews, Muslims, and Christians further dimming any hope for peace."

Other bishops, including the Catholic bishop of Arlington, Virginia, joined the calls for peace for those affected by the violence.

"Our hearts are shocked and saddened by the death of hundreds of people, and thousands more who are wounded or dispersed already," said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge in an Oct. 8 statement. "It is my hope and prayer that the international community will work together to help ensure a peaceful and just resolution for the good of all.

"At this time, we also pray that the victims and their families find strength and support," he continued. "May we join with one voice in asking God to grant eternal rest to the deceased, console those who grieve, and guide political leaders to bring an end to the war without further violence."

His message came hours after Israel formally declared war on Hamas, a Islamist militant group.

[…]

New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, issued an Oct. 8 statement from Rome, where he is a delegate to the Synod on Synodality. Noting the contrasting peacefulness of Rome, he wrote, "From here in Rome, my heart goes out to the assaulted people of Israel, and to our Jewish community we cherish as friends and neighbors back home in New York, realizing with tears that their sabbath yesterday was anything but peaceful.

"A secure and safe home, surely intended by God for all His Children, wherever they may be. To have that home attacked is a sacrilege; to defend that home is righteous," he wrote. "To the urgent appeals of Pope Francis this Sunday; to the pleas of my brother bishops back home in the United States; to the concerns and condolences of those brothers and sisters gathered here in Rome for the synod of bishops, I sure add my own."

Following the public Angelus prayer Sunday, Pope Francis said he is following "with apprehension and sorrow," the situation in Israel, "where violence has erupted even more ferociously, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries."

"Please stop the attacks and the weapons, and understand that terrorism and war do not lead to any solution, but only to the death and suffering of so many innocent people," he said. "War is always a defeat! Every war is a defeat!"

Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he joined his prayers for a resolution to the conflict.

"It was with great sadness that I learned news of the violence in Israel. We have a number of citizens in southeast Michigan who have familial and cultural ties to Israel and Palestine; as Catholics, we stand in solidarity with them, praying for the safety of their loved ones," Vigneron posted. "I encourage all people of good will to pray for a swift resolution to this conflict, and lasting peace for all."

Malloy's statement concluded with urgent prayers for peace and solidarity with those suffering from these events. "I join with Pope Francis in his call for peace and his condemnation of this widespread outbreak of violence. As he stated in his Sunday audience, ‘May the attacks and weaponry cease. Please! And let it be understood that terrorism and war do not lead to any resolutions, but only to the death and suffering of so many innocent people.’ … We call on the faithful, and all people of good will to not grow weary and to continue to pray for peace in the land Our Lord, the Prince of Peace, called home," he said.

[Hovannes]

https://www.foxnews.com/world/40-babies ... ed-village

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: America
Link: americamagazine DOT org/politics-society/2023/10/11/pope-francis-israel-hamas-246263

Pope Francis calls for ‘the immediate release’ of all hostages taken by Hamas, expresses concern for Gaza civilians

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Vatican City — Pope Francis today called for “the immediate release” of the more than 100 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza and, at the same time, expressed his deep concern at the “total siege” imposed by Israel on Gaza, where 2.3 million people, living under constant Israeli aerial bombardment, are now deprived of electricity, food, water and medical supplies.

Speaking slowly and with a pained expression on his face, the pope addressed the situation in Israel and Palestine at today’s general audience, attended by thousands of pilgrims from all continents in St. Peter’s Square.

“I am following with pain and apprehension what is happening in Israel and Palestine,” he told them, echoing words he had also said on Sunday.

“So many persons killed and injured,” he said referring to the enormous casualties on both sides.

[…]

“I pray for those families who have seen a day of festival being transformed into a day of mourning,” he said referring to the families who lost loved ones in the attack on an all-night rave in southern Israel, near the border with Gaza, held on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. While most of the victims were Israeli, people from many countries attended the festival. According to White House officials, 14 American citizens were killed in the attack. Also among the victims were seven people from the pope’s native Argentina.

“I ask that the hostages be released immediately,” Pope Francis said. More than 100 hostages, mostly from Israel, including men, women, children, elderly civilians, as well as Israeli soldiers, have been taken captive by Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has threatened to execute a hostage for every airstrike carried out without warning by Israel on residential buildings in Gaza.

“Israel has a right to defend itself,” the pope stated clearly, restating Catholic social teaching and international law on the right of a country to defend itself.

At the same time, Francis said, “I am very worried at the total siege under which the Palestinians are living in Gaza, where also there have been many innocent victims.” He was referring to the total blockade imposed by Israel on the 141-square-mile Gaza enclave. The siege prevents the supply of electricity and the entry of food, water, medical supplies and other goods into Gaza. Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, has said the blockade violates international law. Israel has also bombed the Rafah entry point between Egypt and Gaza, blocking the only land exit out of Gaza.

“Terrorism and extremisms do not help to reach a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians,” the pope said. “[They] only fuel hate, violence, vendetta and cause suffering to the one side and the other.”

“The Middle East does not need wars but peace, a peace built on justice, on dialogue, on the courage of fraternity,” Pope Francis said. His words gave voice to the real concern in the Vatican and elsewhere that this war could escalate, as Israel appears to be preparing for a massive ground invasion of Gaza in reprisal for the Hamas attack that has traumatized the country. The Vatican is also concerned that such an attack could trigger a Palestinian uprising within the West Bank and the state of Israel, and might also provoke Hezbollah in Lebanon to enter the conflict in solidarity with the Palestinians.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: Reuters
Link: reuters DOT com/world/un-experts-say-israels-strikes-gaza-amount-collective-punishment-2023-10-12/

UN experts say Israel's strikes on Gaza amount to 'collective punishment'

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GENEVA — A group of independent United Nations experts on Thursday condemned violence against civilians in Israel and deplored the "collective punishment" of reprisal strikes against Gaza.

While condemning the "horrific crimes committed by Hamas", the group said that Israel had resorted to "indiscriminate military attacks against the already exhausted Palestinian people of Gaza".

"They have lived under unlawful blockade for 16 years, and already gone through five major brutal wars, which remain unaccounted for," the group, which includes several U.N. special rapporteurs, said in a statement.

"This amounts to collective punishment. There is no justification for violence that indiscriminately targets innocent civilians, whether by Hamas or Israeli forces. This is absolutely prohibited under international law and amounts to a war crime."

The group said that taking hostages in the context of hostilities also constituted a war crime.

"The civilians taken by Hamas must be immediately released, pending which their fate and whereabouts must be disclosed," the experts said.

[…]

Israel said on Thursday there would be no humanitarian break to its siege of the Gaza Strip until all its hostages were freed.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/vatican/2023/10/us-envoy-says-pope-called-hamas-attacks-on-israel-criminal

US envoy says Pope called Hamas attacks on Israel ‘criminal’

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Rome — Pope Francis met a U.S. special envoy for anti-Semitism Thursday amid the developing war between Israel and Hamas, with the diplomat later saying the pontiff had referred to the surprise attacks that triggered the conflict as “criminal.”

Deborah Lipstadt, who’s served as the United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism since May 22, was in Rome participating in a conference at the Jesuit-sponsored Gregorian University on new documents recently made available by the Vatican from the reign of Pope Pius XII, who led the Catholic Church during the era of the Holocaust and the Second World War.

Lipstadt, 76, met Francis in the Vatican and later posted a picture of the encounter to her Instagram account.

“Today, I had the distinct honor of meeting with His Holiness Pope Francis,” Lipstadt wrote. “We discussed the importance of opening the Pope Pius XII archives to accurately examine history and how we must strengthen Catholic–Jewish relations by addressing antisemitism through education.”

“We also discussed the bone-chilling violence in Israel and expressed our great concern for the brutal terrorist attacks taking place, which Pope Francis described as criminal,” she said.

The meeting came in the wake of comments by Francis on the conflict on Wednesday which were welcomed by the Israeli ambassador to the Holy See as “filling a vacuum.”

[…]

Lipstadt’s encounter with Pope Francis came just ahead of events planned in Rome for Oct. 16, the 80th anniversary of the deportation of Roman Jews by the Nazis in October 1943. More than 1,000 Jews, including 200 children, were sent to Auschwitz, and only 16 made it back to Rome alive.

The city of Rome is hosting a series of film screenings, meetings, theatrical performances, tours and exhibitions to mark the occasion, as well as a solemn March of Remembrance on Oct. 16 led by Mayor Roberto Gualtieri.

That evening Italian President Sergio Mattarella will lay a wreath at Rome’s Synagogue, where he will be accompanied by Rome’s Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni and by lay Italian historian Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Catholic Community of Sant’Egidio.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/vatican/2023/10/popes-top-diplomat-says-vatican-ready-to-help-on-return-of-israeli-hostages

Pope’s top diplomat says Vatican ready to help on return of Israeli hostages

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ROME — Pope Francis’s top diplomat has called attack by Hamas militants on Israel “inhuman” and has reaffirmed Israel’s right to self-defense, but has cautioned that the military response must be “proportionate.”

Speaking in an Oct. 13 interview with Vatican News, the Vatican’s state-run media platform, Parolin was asked by editorial director Andrea Tornielli whether the Holy See could potentially have a role in the return of Israeli hostages, given its efforts to secure the return of Ukrainian children deported to Russia amid the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war.

In his response, Parolin said, “The release of Israeli hostages and the protection of innocent lives in Gaza are at the heart of the problem created by Hamas’s attack and the response of the Israeli army. They are at the center of all of our concerns: the Pope and the entire international community.”

“The Holy See is ready for any necessary mediation, as always,” he said, saying they are seeking to engage with institutions “whose channels are already open.”

However, any mediation to end the conflict, Parolin said, “must take into account a series of elements that make the issue very complex and articulated,” including issues related to security, Israeli settlements, and the status of Jerusalem.

“A solution can be found in direct dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis, encouraged and supported by the international community, even though it will be more difficult now,” he said.

[…]

In his interview with Vatican News, Parolin made specific mention of Hamas, saying, “The terrorist attack carried out by Hamas and other militias last Saturday against thousands of Israelis who were about to celebrate the day of Simchat Torah, concluding the week of the Sukkot festival, is inhuman.”

He condemned the attack and extended prayers to the families of the victims and the hostages, stressing the need “to regain a sense of reason, abandon the blind logic of hatred, and reject violence as a solution.”

Reiterating “the right of those who are attacked to defend themselves,” Parolin also cautioned that “legitimate defense must respect the parameter of proportionality.”

“I do not know how much room for dialogue there can be between Israel and the Hamas militia, but if there is — and we hope there is — it should be pursued immediately and without delay” in order to avoid further bloodshed, “as is happening in Gaza, where many innocent civilian victims have been caused by the Israeli army’s attacks,” he said.

Parolin insisted on the need for justice for both sides and advocated for a two-state solution to the longstanding Israel–Palestine conflict, saying, “It seems to me that the greatest possible justice in the Holy Land is the two-state solution.”

This, he said, would allow both Palestinians and Israelis “to live side by side in peace and security, meeting the aspirations of the majority.”

Despite broad support within the international community, the two-state solution “has recently seemed to some, on both sides, to be no longer feasible. For others, it never was,” Parolin said, saying the Holy See for its part remains convinced “of the opposite and continues to support it.”

In terms of short-term justice, Parolin said call for all hostages, including those abducted by Hamas during previous conflicts, to be “returned immediately.”

“It is just that in Israel’s legitimate defense, the lives of Palestinian civilians living in Gaza should not be endangered. It is just — indeed, essential — that in this conflict, as in any other, humanitarian law be fully respected,” he said.

Referring to the Christian population of the Holy Land, Parolin said their presence in the region is “essential,” and that “No one can imagine Palestine or Israel without a Christian presence, which has been there from the beginning and will be there forever.”

The small Catholic community in Gaza, composed of around 150 families, “is suffering immensely,” he said, noting that they have gathered in the parish for refuge and the pastor is stuck in Bethlehem and unable to return due to the hostilities.

“Everything is at a standstill, paralyzed, as if gripped by fear and anger,” Parolin said, saying, “Let us pray for the Israelis; let us pray for the Palestinians; let us pray for Christians, Jews, and Muslims: For the peace of Jerusalem pray.”

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: CNA
Link: catholicnewsagency DOT com/news/255685/heads-of-churches-in-jerusalem-call-on-israel-to-allow-humanitarian-aid-to-go-to-gaza

Heads of Churches in Jerusalem call on Israel to allow humanitarian aid to go to Gaza

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CNA Staff — “Our beloved Holy Land has changed dramatically over the past week,” they said. “We are witnessing a new cycle of violence with an unjustifiable attack against all civilians. Tensions continue to rise and more innocent and vulnerable people are paying the ultimate price as the dramatic level of death and destruction in Gaza clearly show.”

The statement followed Israel's call for the 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza to flee toward the southern part of the territory. The 141-square-mile Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, has been enclosed in an Israeli land, sea and air blockade since 2007 and has a closed border with Egypt.

Long-standing Israeli sanctions against Gaza intensified this week after Israel reportedly cut off electricity, and access to outside food, water, and fuel, and threatened to bomb any humanitarian aid trucks that try to enter through Egypt.

The joint statement from Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant church leaders warned that the evacuation order “will only deepen an already disastrous humanitarian catastrophe,” noting that about 423,000 people “have already been displaced because of the destruction of their homes” and “Gaza’s entire population is being deprived of electricity, water, fuel supplies, food, and medicine.”

“Many civilians in Gaza have said to us that there are no realistic ways in which they can evacuate to safety in any direction,” the statement read. “We call upon the State of Israel, with the support of the international community, to allow humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza so that the thousands of innocent civilians may receive medical treatment and basic supplies.”

The Christian leaders also urged the people of their congregations to observe a day of prayer and fasting on Tuesday, Oct. 17 “in support of all those who have suffered in this war and of families reeling from the violence.”

“There is yet time to stop the hatred,” the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem said.

[Del]

+JMJ+

Source: CNA
Link: catholicnewsagency DOT com/news/255685/heads-of-churches-in-jerusalem-call-on-israel-to-allow-humanitarian-aid-to-go-to-gaza

Heads of Churches in Jerusalem call on Israel to allow humanitarian aid to go to Gaza

Unfortunately, the Hamas government has used our humanitarian aid to make and stage weapons for attacks such as this. For example, Gaza has a terrible need for modern sewage infrastructure. Western nations donated pipes for sewage lines, which Hamas immediately used for rocket tubes.

Hamas continues to use innocent Palestinians, families and children, as human shields -- knowing full well that Israel and the West care for these innocent lives far more than Hamas does. It is Hamas who will not let the Palestinians flee apartment buildings with rocket bases to take refuge.

Now there will be much suffering a lives lost. Hamas is solely and entirely to blame.

But the Patriarchs and church leaders still plea to Israel, knowing that Israel is the only party who even cares about them. And Israel does care -- but Israel will not see women and girls brutally raped, infants beheaded, and families burned in their homes and killed in their beds. Hamas militants will be eliminated, with every attempt by the Israelis to reduce the number of innocents killed as collateral damage. But the collateral damage will be horrific, and Hamas is solely to blame for this.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: Vatican News
Link: vaticannews DOT va/en/pope/news/2023-10/pope-francis-appeal-war-israel-palestine-humanitarian.html

Pope renews appeal for respect of Humanitarian Law in Gaza

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Pope Francis issues an urgent appeal for a halt to violence in Israel and Palestine reiterating his belief that wars are always a defeat, and he invites all believers to join the Church in the Holy Land next Tuesday for a Day of Prayer and Fasting.

Vatican City — Pope Francis has renewed his urgent appeal to Israelis and Palestinian fighters to stop perpetrating violence and spilling “innocent blood”.

Speaking during the Angelus on Sunday he said he is following the situation in the Holy Land “with much pain” and is thinking in particular of the children and the elderly.

“I renew my call for the release of the hostages and I strongly demand that children, the elderly, women and all civilians are not victims of the conflict,” he said.

Respect for Humanitarian Law and humanitarian corridors

He also renewed his call for the respect of Humanitarian Law, “especially in Gaza where there is an urgent need to guarantee humanitarian corridors and to rescue the entire population.”

Wars are always a defeat

“Brothers and sisters,” the Pope cried, “so many have already died: please do not spill any more innocent blood, neither in the Holy land, nor in Ukraine, nor anywhere else.”

Repeating his firm belief that wars are always a defeat, the Holy Father invited all believers to join the Church in the Holy Land next Tuesday, 17 October, for a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace.

“Prayer is the meek and holy force to oppose the diabolical force of hatred, terrorism and war,” he said.

Thousands of victims

A week on from the deadliest attack Israel has ever seen, it is widely expected that the country’s military will attack Gaza by land, air and sea.

After warning over a million Palestinians living in north Gaza to evacuate south on Friday, thousands of people have been fleeing by vehicle, on bicycle or on foot. The World Health Organization says another Israeli order to evacuate more than twenty hospitals in northern Gaza was tantamount to a death sentence for some of the sick and injured.

Hospitals in Gaza are already facing a public health catastrophe. Over the last week, more than 2,000 people have been killed in Israel's bombing campaign of Gaza and thousands have sought medical treatment.

[…]

[Hovannes]

+JMJ+

Source: Vatican News
Link: vaticannews DOT va/en/pope/news/2023-10/pope-francis-appeal-war-israel-palestine-humanitarian.html

Pope renews appeal for respect of Humanitarian Law in Gaza

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Vatican City — Pope Francis has renewed his urgent appeal to Israelis and Palestinian fighters to stop perpetrating violence and spilling “innocent blood”.

Speaking during the Angelus on Sunday he said he is following the situation in the Holy Land “with much pain” and is thinking in particular of the children and the elderly.

“I renew my call for the release of the hostages and I strongly demand that children, the elderly, women and all civilians are not victims of the conflict,” he said.

Respect for Humanitarian Law and humanitarian corridors

He also renewed his call for the respect of Humanitarian Law, “especially in Gaza where there is an urgent need to guarantee humanitarian corridors and to rescue the entire population.”

Wars are always a defeat

“Brothers and sisters,” the Pope cried, “so many have already died: please do not spill any more innocent blood, neither in the Holy land, nor in Ukraine, nor anywhere else.”

Repeating his firm belief that wars are always a defeat, the Holy Father invited all believers to join the Church in the Holy Land next Tuesday, 17 October, for a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace.

“Prayer is the meek and holy force to oppose the diabolical force of hatred, terrorism and war,” he said.

Thousands of victims

A week on from the deadliest attack Israel has ever seen, it is widely expected that the country’s military will attack Gaza by land, air and sea.

After warning over a million Palestinians living in north Gaza to evacuate south on Friday, thousands of people have been fleeing by vehicle, on bicycle or on foot. The World Health Organization says another Israeli order to evacuate more than twenty hospitals in northern Gaza was tantamount to a death sentence for some of the sick and injured.

Hospitals in Gaza are already facing a public health catastrophe. Over the last week, more than 2,000 people have been killed in Israel's bombing campaign of Gaza and thousands have sought medical treatment.

[…]

Pope Francis might find CS Lewis' The Screwtape Letters helpful.