Cardinal Robert McElroy, Bishop of San Diego, CA, and Most Reverend John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe, NM, released the following statement today, January 17, condemning Hamas and calling for an “immediate and total” halt to military action in Gaza:
“The continuing war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of men, women, and children, and threatens to increase violence throughout the Middle East calls us as Americans to press for a national policy which is focused unswervingly on an immediate and total ceasefire.
“The massacre of more than 1,300 innocent Israelis, including children, and the abhorrent victimization of women on October 7 stands as a shocking attack by Hamas upon the most basic principles of human dignity. It absolutely delegitimates any future role for Hamas in the Middle East and underscores the right of Israel to bring to justice all those who carried out this outrage. Moreover, the piercing moral claim of releasing the hostages should be a priority for the whole international community.
“The siege of Gaza has lasted more than 100 days and has already resulted in the deaths of more than 23,000 people, most of them innocent civilians. This is more than one percent of the entire population of Gaza. Proportionately for the United States, this would represent more than 3.5 million lives. In addition, the infrastructure, housing and commerce of Gaza has been systematically destroyed by Israeli attacks, rendering much of the population homeless. A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Gaza before the eyes of the world. In such a conflict, continuing such warfare is neither just nor tolerable.
“In addition, there is tremendous risk that the present war will produce major conflict in Lebanon, increase violence in the West Bank, and cause outbreaks throughout the Middle East.
“It is for these reasons that Pope Francis has called repeatedly in these days for an end to military action in the Holy Land. ‘I continue to follow the conflict in Israel and Palestine with much worry and pain…. I renew my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire: there is so much suffering there.’ Only such a cease fire can end the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, stop the growing risk of expanded warfare in the Middle East and maximize the chance of returning the hostages to their families alive.
“It is critical for us in the United States to support this call for an immediate ceasefire, and to press for our government to make it the centerpiece of its foreign policy in the Middle East at this pivotal moment. Our country has a powerful voice on these issues. Let it echo Pope Francis’s call amidst suffering on all sides ‘No to weapons, yes to peace.’ For this will be the only true pathway for justice in the land that so deeply reflects the presence of God.”
Thank you. May your colleagues get on board and show a
commitment to justice.
Nos unimos al clamor de estos dos pastores de Estados Unidos por la paz en Tierra Santa, cuya primera exigencia es que el fin no justifica los medios, es decir, rescatar a los rehenes no significa masacrar a toda una población incluidos niños y niñas. Eso es un genocidio.
[We join the cry of these two pastors from the United States for peace in the Holy Land, whose first demand is that the end does not justify the means, that is, rescuing the hostages does not mean massacring an entire population, including boys and girls. That is a genocide.]
Dear Bishops,
I encourage you to 1) Offer to accompany Pope Francis to the Egyptian border with Gaza, and walk into Gaza carrying food , water, and medicines to the starving and brutalized Palestinian people . 2) Offer the sacrifice of the Mass in front of the White House, home to Catholic President Biden. Our government’s funding of Israel makes all of us guilty of the sin of genocide. Israel could not continue the massacre without US support. 3) Call for a Federal Tax Strike because paying taxes funds the sin of genocide we are trying to stop. Contact National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee for information on how to proceed. You might remember your brother, Bishop Raymond Hunthausen, who refused to pay 50% of his federal taxes to protest the sin of nuclear weapons.
Please act immediately.