The global Church has failed its duty to challenge the Gaza genocide

 

“The fact that churches have not sufficiently taken up this moral responsibility is a damning indictment. To brazenly prefer their comfort, interests, connections, and desire to avoid embarrassment is moral bankruptcy,” says Jonathan Kuttab.

We have all witnessed close to two years of Israel’s genocide in Gaza but heads of the church—its spiritual leaders, its bishops, its pastors—have yet to take meaningful action on Gaza. 

I’m talking about a clear strategy of nonviolence: speaking courageously from the pulpit, creating up-to-date educational resources, taking to the streets, visiting en masse the town halls and offices of elected leaders, boycotting, divesting, and even civil disobedience.

Responses to last week’s bombing of the Holy Family [Catholic] Church in Gaza —when three people were killed and many others were wounded—are an example of the church’s failure to speak and act prophetically. 

Pope Leo’s response was a disappointment to Palestinian Christians. In his statement, he spoke of the bombing as a “military attack.” There was no effort to put the incident in the context of Israel’s genocidal campaign. No call to the world’s leaders—let alone the church’s—to rise up and act to end Israel’s campaign. The Pope renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire, saying, “Only dialogue and reconciliation can ensure enduring peace”—as if dialogue and reconciliation were possible when one party is acting with international impunity to destroy a people. 

Bishops in the U.S. followed Pope Leo’s lead. Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), said in a statement, “With [Pope Leo], the Catholic bishops of the United States are deeply saddened to learn about the deaths and injuries at Holy Family Church in Gaza caused by a military strike…” Saddened, not angered. Again, without putting the bombing in the context of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Broglio could only say—on behalf of all of the Catholic bishops in the U.S.—“Our prayers are [with the church’s parishioners].” 

So, too, the Commission of the [Catholic] Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE). In a statement, Bishop Mariano Crociata, the president of COMECE, said, “We do not yet know exactly what happened, but I can say that such acts renew our sorrow… and compel us to reaffirm, with strength, our firm opposition to every form of war and armed conflict.” He said, “I join the cry of those who call for peace and for respect of every human life….” Not exactly the bold statement that Palestinians in Gaza might have hoped for. They are doing the crying. They’re waiting for the church to do the acting.  (more...)

The global Church has failed its duty to challenge the Gaza genocide