My recent visit to the Holy Land revealed fear and depression but also the grit and resilience of a people to whom the prophets preached and for whom Jesus wept.
Middle East
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis, in Easter message, calls for ceasefire in Gaza and prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine
The pope called for specific, concrete, immediate steps that political leaders could take to end the wars and bring peace to the Holy Land and to Ukraine.
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
The world is terrible at protecting children in conflict zones
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
What Easter means in the Holy Land this year, in the middle of war
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis calls for ‘immediate cease-fire in Gaza and in the entire Middle Eastern region’
At the noon prayer on Sunday, Pope Francis called for a cease-fire and for “the continuation of negotiations” to bring about the release of hostages taken by Hamas and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Posted inEditorials, Politics & Society
The Editors: Gaza, Ukraine and what makes a ‘just war’
The overriding concern is that the goal of a just war must always be to restore or establish peace.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
All is fair in A.I. warfare. But what do Christian ethics have to say?
The great danger of artificial intelligence is not that it is ineffective. It can also perform quite effectively. In fact, it is already transforming modern warfare.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
‘Maybe Christmas will stop the war’: A child’s hope and other scenes from Bethlehem
This year in Bethlehem, we are waiting for a hope that I am not sure I would even be able to believe in anymore, except that it does not entirely depend on us.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
On 87th birthday, Pope Francis denounces bombing and shooting of unarmed civilians in Gaza
Francis condemned the killing of two women in the Holy Family parish in Gaza, and the attack on the convent of Mother Teresa’s nuns that care for disabled persons.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
The human rights of victims—in Israel and Palestine—must be protected
Our common belief in human rights must be undergirded by a recognition that rights come with duties—including the duty to protect those whose rights are unequally threatened.