Holy Land Catholic leaders protest desecration of crucifix by IDF soldier

Apr 21st, 2026

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa has issued following statement the desecration of a crucifix by an Israeli soldier, on behalf of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land: Latins, Melkites, Maronites, Syrians, Armenians, Chaldeans and Custody of the Holy Land

STATEMENT

Profanation of an image of Jesus crucified

The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land expresses its profound indignation and unreserved condemnation of the desecration of a representation of Jesus Crucified by an Israeli soldier in a Lebanese village.

This act constitutes a grave affront to the Christian faith and adds to other reported incidents of desecration of Christian symbols by IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon. It further reveals a disturbing failure in moral and human formation, wherein even the most elementary reverence for the sacred and for the dignity of others has been gravely compromised.

The Assembly calls for immediate and decisive disciplinary action, a credible process of accountability, and clear assurances that such conduct will neither be tolerated nor repeated.

Yet even in the face of such offense, the Cross remains unassailable in its meaning. As Saint Paul the Apostle declares, "far be it from me to glory 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 a summons to overcome violence through sacrificial love.

It is precisely in this light that the Church continues to proclaim that true peace cannot be born of violence, but must remain, in the words of Pope Leo XIV, "unarmed... a peace that calls to 'put [the] sword back into its sheath.""

For this reason, the Assembly renews, with urgency, its call to bring to an end the war that has tormented this region for far too long, and to embrace a path where peace is witnessed in restraint, dialogue, responsibility, and reverence for the sacred and for every human life.

Jerusalem, 20 April

LINK

AOCTS: https://aocts.org/the-assembly

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