Cardinal condemns Israel plan to take control of Gaza City

Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols has expressed ‘sorrow and condemnation’ after Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to take control of Gaza City.

In a statement he said, “There must be a better way, one that does not heap yet further suffering and misery on so many people who are not combatants but defenceless in face of the perpetrators of violence in their midst. Already too much innocent blood has been shed; too many lives destroyed; too much hunger and starvation. This war must be ended not increased.”

Describing the parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City as a “haven of compassion and prayer”, Cardinal Nichols said his heart goes out to the Catholics and Christians of Gaza, and to Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who oversees the local Church in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Cyprus.

“Today, and in these days, I weep for the people of Gaza as they face not just a continuation of their immense suffering but an escalation in their hardship and desperation.  

“To increase the destruction of Gaza City and then the rest of its territory, in order to defeat a terrorist organisation and movement, is a development that is rightly being condemned around the world,” he said.

He spoke out over a weekend of commemorations and demonstrations marking events in Gaza as well as the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

St Anselm and Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Holborn hosted the Christians For Palestine Ecumenical Service, introduced by Rev Sam Fletcher, with readings and prayers written by Christian Palestinians. They began: “We gather in the presence of God to mourn, to cry out for justice and peace in the Middle East, and to commit ourselves to act for liberation.”

Rev Richard Sewell, Dean of St George’s College, Jerusalem, visiting the UK, gave a brief address and said Palestinians are grateful for the support they are receiving at this difficult time. ICN reported that many of those present then processed out onto the street and joined the march of more than 300,000 people from Russell Square to Whitehall along with many faiths, trade unions, community groups, musicians and artists.

Hundreds also attended a separate event in Parliament Square where 532 people were arrested including many pensioners.

Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International, said: “The protesters in Parliament Square were not inciting violence and it is entirely disproportionate to point of absurdity to treat them as terrorists.”

A special peace service organised by Pax Christi was also held on Saturday evening in the crypt of Westminster Cathedral to commemorate the life and witness of Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, who was executed on 9 August 1943 for refusing to join Hitler’s army. Sr Katrina Alton CSJP gave the reflection, saying: “In every generation, the Gospel confronts the powers of this world and demands a choice: What do you treasure? Conformity or conscience? The way of violence or nonviolence? Empire or the Kingdom of God?

“Few lives illustrate this choice more clearly than that of FranzJägerstätter, an Austrian Catholic farmer who refused to fight for Hitler. His story, told powerfully in Gordon Zahn’s In Solitary Witness, remains a model of Gospel fidelity. Today, his witness challenges us amid modern atrocities.”

Jägerstätter rejected the lie that violence in the service of the state could ever be compatible with the teachings of Jesus, she added. “Franz’s treasure was not his reputation, his freedom, his family, or even his life. It was his relationship with the God of nonviolence who he encountered daily in prayer, the Sacraments and Scripture.

“The Gospels do not allow for neutrality in the face of slaughter. It calls us to lament, to give witness, and to action. It calls us to treasure every life, just as Jesus does, especially the lives of those being destroyed using our money, our tacit complicity, or our inaction.”

Referring to Gaza, she continued, “To see children buried under rubble, or families starving under siege, and do nothing is to align ourselves with Empire, not with Jesus. Yet many in the global churches have largely failed to speak clearly and courageously. Like many Christians in Franz’s day, we risk confusing loyalty to the state with fidelity to the Gospel.”

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