Gaza: 'Words are not enough!' - Irish Bishops call for solidarity at parish level

Mass in the Holy Family Church, Gaza, 2016 (Image CCO archive)

Source: Irish Catholic Bishops Conference

At Masses across Ireland this weekend, people will be invited to pray together for peace in Gaza.

The Irish Bishops stated the following concerning the humanitarian disaster in Gaza: "In Gaza people are starving and adequate aid is being denied; it seems clear that famine is being used as a weapon of war. Already over 600,000 Palestinians have been displaced. The evidence points to a staged strategy of ethnic cleansing aimed at removing the Palestinian people from their homes and their homeland. It is becoming increasingly clear to people on the ground that these are genocidal actions sanctioned by the Government of Israel.

"What is happening in Gaza - and the West Bank - is the death of tens of thousands of non-combatants, many of them women and children. This is unconscionable and disproportionate. It is immoral for world leaders to stand by inactively in the face of this outrageous tragedy for humanity.

"Words are not enough! There is an urgent need for the international community to intervene, cut off arms supplies and bring the carnage to an end. This will call for courage on the part of leaders. Examples of courage are being given every day by heroic doctors, nurses and aid workers risking their lives in service of the wounded and those who have been displaced."

As noted already, bishops offered prayers for the people of Gaza and Ukraine as well as other troubled places in the world. In relation to the deteriorating situation in Gaza they noted that as of early June 2025, the humanitarian crisis there has intensified dramatically. To date, almost 55,000 people have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank, since the horrific events of 7 October 2023.

Bishops welcomed the response to their call in their statement of 26 May for a 'Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace' in Gaza on Friday last, 6 June. The entire month of June, the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, should be a time of special prayer for peace. All parishes are asked to give expression to their solidarity with the suffering people of Gaza during June.

Bishops continued, "People in parishes across the country are horrified by what they are witnessing. They may feel helpless. But they can show their solidarity in different ways by lobbying their political representatives, by supporting humanitarian aid and, above all, by continuing to pray for an end to the conflict now and the resumption of peace, including the return of all hostages and prisoners."

Bishops listened again to the recent words of Pope Leo XIV and resonated with them: "In the Gaza Strip, the cry of mothers, of fathers who clutch the lifeless bodies of children and who are continually forced to move in search of a little food and safer shelter from bombing, rises ever more intensely to the sky. I renew my appeal to the leaders: cease-fire, release all hostages, fully respect humanitarian law. Mary Queen of Peace, pray for us.' (General Audience, 28 May 2025).