SEATTLE — Five Northwest bishops, including Archbishop of Seattle Paul D. Etienne, and the leaders of seven orders of women religious released a joint statement Feb. 14, calling for peace in the Middle East and advising specific actions to make that happen.
“We deplore the violence of the Hamas attack against Israel, just as we deplore the disproportionate violence against Palestinians in Gaza with months of indiscriminate bombing by Israeli forces — all while medical and humanitarian assistance are withheld from innocent civilians,” the Catholic leaders said in the statement.
They “call for a humanitarian cease-fire” and “urge a return to negotiating a two-state solution and call on the international community to re-engage in active and sustained support for a just and lasting peace,” the statement reads. “We also urge the United Nations and relevant authorities to investigate all war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law” since the war began in October.
The statement comes on Ash Wednesday, which begins the penitential season of Lent. In addition to Archbishop Etienne, the statement is signed by Bishop Eusebio Elizondo and Bishop Frank Schuster, both auxiliary bishops of Seattle; Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of Yakima; Bishop Jeffrey Fleming of Great Falls, Montana, and women religious from the Sisters of Providence, Mother Joseph Province; Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, U.S. Ontario Province leadership team; Sisters of St. Benedict of Lacey; Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia; Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan; Dominican Sisters of Tacoma; and the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace leadership team.
The religious leaders’ call for peace goes beyond the war itself. They also condemn the “significant increase in anti-Semitism and Islamaphobia throughout the world, which exacerbates the sin of racism and ignores the dignity of the human person.”
The leaders say they are praying “for a peaceful end to the war in Israel and Gaza” and “for the immediate release of all hostages and for everyone who is suffering due to the inhumanities and violence inflicted by this war.” They invite all people to join them in prayer.
“Peace is needed now,” they said in the statement. “Accountability rather than retribution is needed now. Language that speaks of peace and reconciliation without words of violence and vengeance is needed now.”
You can read the complete statement in English here.
Para español, haga clic aquí.