US Bishops invited to join Washington Witness for Gaza and Holy Land ahead of USCCB meeting

Source: Priests Against Genocide

Priests Against Genocide USA (PAGUSA) has sent an open letter to Archbishop Paul Coakley and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) asking for their support.

The bishops will gather in Baltimore on November 16-19 for their autumn meeting. The letter invites them to support and take part in three days of prayer, advocacy and solidarity taking place in Washington, DC, on November 14-16 organised by PAGUSA.

The Washington program opens with an interfaith procession and vigil bringing together Christians, Muslims and Jews, joined by Doctors Against Genocide. A Catholic gathering follows with Fr Bashar Fawadleh, pastor of Taybeh, the only entirely Christian Palestinian village remaining in the West Bank, alongside local parishes and Catholic justice and peace groups. The witness closes with a public press conference featuring Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant clergy from the Holy Land and the United States.

In the letter, PAGUSA asks the bishops to make their prophetic voice heard publicly. It notes that the US government continues to fund and supply the weapons used in Gaza, the West Bank and southern Lebanon. The letter argues this is incompatible with the Leahy Law, which bars military aid to forces that commit serious human rights violations.

"At this critical moment, we believe the Church is called not merely to lament suffering but to stand visibly alongside those who suffer," writes Fr John Heagle, coordinator of the PAGUSA Steering Committee. "Such a witness is always pastoral before it is political. Yet genuine pastoral care cannot remain detached from the policies that shape human lives."

Priests Against Genocide is an international network of more than 2,700 priests, bishops and cardinals. It marked its first anniversary in Rome on September 22 with public prayer and witness against the devastation in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and southern Lebanon. Its ministry draws on Psalm 85, which links lasting peace with truth and justice.

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