Religious leaders, activists, and artists from various Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Jewish traditions embarked on an eight-day pilgrimage to the U.S. Capitol as part of a call for ceasefire.
'Israel’s right to self-defense has been invoked to justify that this operation is proportional, but with 30,000 dead, it’s not,' said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state.
‘As there’s ashes on our head, there’s also blood on our hands because we cannot exempt ourselves from what this country is doing,’ said the Rev. Graylan Hagler, pastor emeritus of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ.
This issue of A Public Witness takes a look at past efforts from Christian clergy to bless weapons of war before returning to a current conflict to hear from a pastor in the little town of Bethlehem.
Vatican officials said about 70,000 people filled St. Peter's Square for Francis' noonday speech and blessing. They included many people flying Palestinian flags, as well as some Ukrainian ones.
Palestinian Christians have felt abandoned by global Christian church leaders’ statements on the Israel-Hamas war, with some viewing the war as a moment for Western denominations to reckon with their colonialist past.
Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, offers this first entry in our week exploring the theme of Advent during a time of bloodshed in Israel.