This editorial from the Catholic Herald returns to the attack on Christians in Gaza yesterday.
There is one part of the Church where Christmas celebrations have already been suspended, that is the Holy Land, where Church leaders have encouraged Christians to limit the usual festivities and decorations, out of respect for the suffering caused by the current conflict.
It began with Hamas’s barbaric atrocities against Jews on October 7 and continued yesterday with the Israeli Defense Forces’ attacks on the Holy Family Church in Gaza. As our cover story this month by Christian Adams reminds us, the place visited by the Three Wise Men now lies in a region disfigured by war and destruction.
The statement by the Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pizzaballa, does not mention the nature of the attack by the Israeli Defense Forces on the church: “An IDF sniper murdered two Christian women in the Church of the Holy Family, where the majority of Christian families were taken. shelter… Seven other people were shot and injured while trying to protect others. They were shot in cold blood inside the parish walls, where there were no belligerents.
The patriarch said the IDF tanks also targeted the convent of the Sisters of Mother Theresa, which houses 54 disabled people and is part of the church compound, designated as a place of worship since the start of the conflict. A first rocket attack destroyed the generator and caused a fire, followed by two more rockets. The 54 disabled residents are now displaced and without the power generator for ventilators, some may not survive.
Talking about “murder” in this context seems entirely relevant. How in God’s name can we say that a sniper targeting an elderly woman and her daughter, as she tried to bring her mother to safety, could be justified as an attack against Hamas? How was the Church where Christian families were taking refuge considered a legitimate target? And how can we justify a rocket attack on the convent of the Sisters of Charity and the disabled people they care for? There cannot be a less politicized, more innocent, more obviously benevolent group than the Sisters of Charity. But that wasn’t enough to save them. It is impossible to imagine that the IDF did not know what and who they were targeting. There is no threat to the IDS from the parishioners of the Holy Family Church targeted by the sniper, nor from the disabled residents of the Sisters of Charity convent. The attacks were brutal, unjustified, intentional and deadly.
The death toll and destruction may be small compared to the total number of Palestinian casualties since the Israeli counter-offensive, but it tells us a lot about the nature of this offensive. This is expected to increase pressure from Western governments on Benjamin Netanyahu to end his indiscriminate attacks on civilians, which have resulted in the deaths of around 18,000 people. This should focus the attention of the US administration and European governments on the nature of what is happening in Gaza.
This is not to say that Hamas is not guilty; its rocket attacks on Jerusalem, protected by the so-called Iron Dome, could have destroyed, among other places, the Franciscan convent within the walls. And of course the conflict was precipitated by Hamas’s initial atrocities against 1,400 Jews. But the nature of the Israeli response has dampened the sympathy that followed the October 7 attacks. This latest attack on Christians will further compromise the moral standing of Israeli forces. In addition, the IDF’s killing of three Israeli hostages held by Hamas who were waving white flags before being shot has sparked further questions about its tactics.
This attack is just the latest attack on Christians in the Holy Land whose numbers have plummeted in recent years – and we must remember that in 1948, before the founding of the State of Israel, they made up around 30%. Population. There are now estimated to be barely 1,000 Christians in Gaza, even though the Church of the Holy Family is a historic place of worship. Christians were already leaving the area before the Israeli offensive against Hamas; the displacement and loss of life has accelerated a new exodus.
In East Jerusalem, Christians, including Armenians, experienced a similar catastrophic decline. We risk seeing nothing less than the extinction of local Christianity within Christianity itself. And although Christ and his apostles were of course Jewish, it must be remembered that the Arabs were among the very first Christians, being mentioned among the people gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost. The Holy Places can attract hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in good times, but as Father Luke Gregory OFM, our columnist this month, observed in an interview, the Church risks losing something even more more important: its living stones, the Christians of the region.
Before the most recent conflict began, Christians were subject to provocations from extremist Jewish factions, including settler groups, notably in Jerusalem, who sought to assert the Jewish presence at the expense of Christian and other communities. This has been encouraged by corrupt elements within the churches: controversial and contested land sales by individuals within the Greek Orthodox Church and, more recently, the Armenian Church, have meant that the small area of Jerusalem which sheltered them is even more reduced. These extremist Jewish groups are not representative of Israel’s Jewish majority but they enjoy the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
These problems may seem far less important than the appalling and massive loss of life, but any increase in the number of Christians leaving the region where they have lived for 2,000 years is nothing short of a tragedy. The interests of the Christian community must be taken into account in any peace agreement – even if the prospect now seems distant – like the one still being considered by the US administration and Israel’s Western allies. President Biden visited the holy sites, including Bethlehem, and worshiped the birthplace of Christ. We must not forget the Christian community which is much more important in terms of its importance than in terms of its number. It should continue to be a Trinitarian culture, with Christians as well as Jews and Muslims, and although Christians are far fewer in number than others, their influence is very real.
Catholics outside the region can help them; In our charitable giving – especially during this Christmas season – we must do our best to support the Christians of the Holy Land, as well as their neighbors and their local industries, who will have suffered not only physical damage during the conflict, but also the loss of markets and exports. routes. Organizations such as Pro Terra Sancta, with which Father Luc, our columnist, works, help Christians in the region find fulfilling work. Without jobs, these people, especially young people, will have no choice but to leave their homes and the decline will continue.
Just as important, we must continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land after this latest tragedy. It is the most fundamental form of solidarity we can offer, and it is transformative.
Photo: Nuns and parishioners gather for Christmas Eve mass at the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City, December 24, 2022. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images.)
