An appeal to «urgently end the war that has tormented this region for too long and to embrace a path in which peace is demonstrated by moderation, dialogue, responsibility and respect for the sacred and for every human life”. It comes with a harsh note from the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, signed by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the request for lasting peace in the aftermath of yet another serious episode in Southern Lebanon.
The photo of the Israeli soldier who, near the Maronite Christian village of Debel, the same one to whom the aid of the apostolic nuncio Monsignor Paolo Borgia was directed a few weeks ago, stopped by the IDF, hits the head of the crucified Jesus with a hammer.
The Assembly, which “urgently” calls for an end to the conflict, “expresses its profound indignation and its unconditional condemnation for the desecration of a representation of the Crucified Jesus by an Israeli soldier in a Lebanese village.”
An actthe Ordinaries say, which «constitutes a serious affront to the Christian faith and adds to other reported incidents of desecration of Christian symbols by IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon”. Furthermore “it also reveals a worrying lack in moral and human formationin which even the most basic respect for the sacred and for dignity of others has been seriously compromised.”
And while Prime Minister Netanyahu is quick to say that he will open an investigation and that the “behavior is not in line with our values”, the Assembly “asks immediate and decisive disciplinary action, a credible accountability process and clear assurances that such conduct will not be tolerated or repeated.”
At the same time he reiterates that «even in the face of such an offense, the Cross remains unassailable in its meaning. As the apostle Saint Paul declares, “Far be the glory from me except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14). For believers, the Cross endures as a source of dignity, hope and redemption, and as an invitation to overcome violence through sacrificial love». And it is precisely «in this light that the Church continues to proclaim that true peace cannot arise from violence, but it must remain, in the words of Pope Leo
