Every Christian should have a deep respect for Judaism. When we consider that our Lord Jesus, our Blessed Mother Mary, St. Joseph, the twelve apostles, and the very first disciples were practicing religious Jews. We also need to consider that the Christian New Testament is firmly rooted in the Jewish Scriptures of the Old Testament. Read more
Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for an end to the conflict in Gaza, as he showed signs of recovery after suffering from bronchitis. On Saturday, the 87-year-old pope delegated the reading of a speech at a ceremony to an aide, and on Wednesday, he made a brief trip to a Rome hospital after he missed Read more
Nothing will ever be the same in the Holy Land after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel – and after Israel’s apocalyptic response. So said Francesca Albanese to a Catholic audience in Wellington recently. Albanese is the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. But the Israel-Palestine issue has a simple solution, she Read more
Pope Francis said it well: “War does not solve any problem, it only sows death and destruction, increases hatred, multiplies revenge. War erases the future.” The future for Palestinians and Israelis is being erased each passing day. Before it is too late, the United States and Congress should side with peace, not more war, in Read more
It was neither the place nor the time for a proper goodbye, said Omar Dirawi. Not here, in this dusty field strewn with dead people wrapped in blankets and zipped up in body bags. And not now, as Israeli airstrikes crashed around him for the third week, erasing more of his neighbourhood and sundering hundreds Read more
A devastating attack on the al-Ahli Anglican Hospital in Gaza resulting in the loss of hundreds of innocent lives has shocked the world. Tuesday’s rocket strike left as many as 500 people dead and a great many others injured. The hospital was a place of refuge for Palestinians following evacuation orders from Israel. The Archbishop Read more
Following a series of surprise attacks against Israel by Hamas on Oct 7, hundreds of military air strikes have been launched across the Gaza Strip as a form of retaliation by the Israeli government. The UN reports that Gaza’s entire population is being deprived of electricity, water, fuel supplies, food, and medicine. Ongoing bombardments and Read more
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, strongly denounced the recent Hamas attack on Israel, labelling it as “inhuman”. “The release of Israeli hostages and the protection of innocent lives in Gaza are at the heart of the problem created by Hamas’ attack and the response of the Israeli army,” said Parolin. “They are Read more
The conflict in Gaza cast a shadow on Monday over a major conference on the Vatican and the Holocaust, with one participant calling the carnage the worst slaughter of civilian Jews in one day since then. The conference was organised after the opening in 2020 of Vatican archives of the pontificate of Pius XII, which Read more
The Hamas attack on Israel over the weekend was not a surprise, says a Taranaki-raised New Zealander working in the Holy Land. Br Peter Bray FSC, Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University, says the Hamas attack is a “watershed moment that could have a long-term impact on life here in the Holy Land”. While he disapproves Read more