African theologians decry violence in the Holy Land

Fr Stan Chu Ilo said that the human toll of the current war in Gaza was “simply unacceptable and painful to watch”.

Catholic clergy and theologians voiced hope that the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the leadership of Israel and Hamas will be enforced.

Fr Stan Chu Ilo, Coordinating Servant of the Pan-African Catholic Theology and Pastoral Network (PACTPAN) and Research Professor at the Centre for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University in Chicago, called the current war the worst in the region in living memory.

“The terrible tragedy playing before our very eyes in Gaza … is by far the worst and most destructive of the Gaza wars,” he said, comparing the violence to previous conflicts in 2008-2009, 2014, and 2021.

Ilo said that the human toll of the current war was “simply unacceptable and painful to watch”. According to the UN, at least 45,000 people have been killed in the fighting.

“The hope is that the indictments of the [ICC] against the perpetrators on both sides should be enforced so justice may be done,” he told The Tablet. He said the ultimate cause of justice is the restoration of peace for a free and independent Palestine and Israel.

“This can only be achieved through a negotiated settlement and not violence and war,” he said.

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Several religious authorities condemned the use of religious scripture to justify violence in the Holy Land. Fr Moses Lorapuu, Director of Communication and Vicar General Pastoral for the Diocese of Makurdi in Nigeria’s Benue State, observed that for centuries the Bible and other sacred texts have been distorted to rationalise oppression, erasure and violence.

“The sacred scripture that guides billions of believers around the world must never be manipulated to justify the subjugation of others, especially by the Chosen People,” he told The Tablet. “Unfortunately, the same manipulation can be said of the Koran. We must all refrain from using the Bible to legitimise colonialism or territorial annexation. We saw this in the apartheid era. This is what is playing out in the Middle East.”

Lorapuu emphasised that the Bible’s core message is one of love, justice, and compassion, and that the manipulation of scripture for any reason departs from that core message.

Sr Jane Kimathi, Director of Programmes at PACTPAN, emphasised the importance of collective efforts from religious, political, and civil leaders, as well as the active involvement of ordinary people, in achieving peace in the Holy Land. 

“Only through this approach can we begin to heal the deep divisions and violence that have long plagued the Holy Land,” she told The Tablet.

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