The Gospel of Matthew states in Chapter 5, Verse 9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” On October 7th, 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel which killed around 1,000 Israeli citizens.
The entire global order immediately condemned the attack and gave Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu carte blanche to “root out Hamas” and “solve the Palestinian problem.” As we approach the one-year anniversary of that attack, instead of a resolution and a ceasefire, 50,000 Palestinians are dead, and just recently Israel launched airstrikes into Lebanon wounding over 1,500 and killing over 500.
Christians, largely those that compromise Western governments, have instead decided that peace is not in their financial or electoral benefit, but that continued war in the Middle East is best for them. The point of this article is not to litigate the entire history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, but instead, to highlight how only one “Christian nation” has come to the defense of the Christians in the Middle East: Vatican City.
When people discuss the conflicts in the Middle East, it is often framed through the lens of Arab Muslims vs. Jews, completely ignoring the sizable minority population of Christians, especially in countries such as Lebanon and Syria, that are collateral damage in the conflict.
These “Levantine” Christians have lived in the region since the time of Christ, longer than the Arabs who came over during the Muslim conquest in the 600s or the European Jews who immigrated in the 20th century. Both the Jews and the Muslims have taken advantage of this Christian population, and supposedly Christian countries will refuse to speak out.
Even before this conflict started, ISIS and other Muslim groups would commit mass executions against Christians in the Middle East, whereas Israel has long limited Christian gatherings on the holiest days such as Pascha, and has repeatedly attempted to outlaw Christian evangelism. The attacks on the freedom of Christians in this region are disgusting, despicable, and antithetical to the supposed “religious freedom” that Western countries support.
The Christians, both Orthodox and Catholic, are the ones suffering from the continuation of this conflict, and Pope Francis seems to be the only world leader willing to acknowledge that fact. In March of this year during the Third Sunday of Lent (on the Gregorian Calendar), he stated, “Enough, please. Let us all say: Enough, please!” He repeated: “Stop the war.”
It has been reported that he calls the only Catholic Church in Gaza every day to check on the parish in the wake of daily Israeli bombings. Israel’s indiscriminate bombing has leveled entire Christian sections of Gaza, including last year’s destruction of the third oldest church in the world (St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church).
There is no excuse for the bombing of a church. It was not a “Hamas” tunnel” or “center of terrorism” as has been claimed by the Israeli government. It was a community that existed since the middle of the 5th century A.D. Christians are suffering the tragedy of continued war in the region, and Pope Francis’ repeated calls for a ceasefire have been continually rebuffed.
As Israel has launched new offensives into Lebanon just recently, it is clear that the conflict is only growing in scale. Pope Francis must continue to call for the protection of Christians in the Middle East, against the unprovoked Israeli attacks on Christians.
Christians are the most persecuted religion in the world, but anyone who advocates for Christian ethics, morals, and tradition will be deemed as “sexist, homophobic, anti-semitic, anti-Islamic,” or whatever other slurs the powers that be want to charge somebody with. As Saint Paul says in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter” (2 Thes 2:15).
It is time for Christians to stand up for their faith, be willing to call out attacks on our brothers and sisters, and not cower in the face of name-calling. War is a terrible endeavor. It has been nearly eighty years since the end of World War II, and thus people forget how awful it can be, especially for civilians.
The photos emerging from Palestine and Lebanon are horrific. Hopefully, our new generation will remember the horrors of war and push for peace, while also maintaining that the Apostolic Christian faith is the true faith, and other religions are indeed false.
It is my fervent wish that soon this war will come to a close, but millions have already been displaced and the Christian population in the Holy Land continues to dwindle. It is up to us Christians to defend our fellow brothers and sisters, even if it is not the popular position in the Western world, and truly be “the peacemakers” that we are called upon to be by Saint Matthew.
James “Δημήτριος” Markis is a senior at Boston College studying History, Political Science, and Ancient Civilization. He is a Greek Orthodox Christian, offering a unique perspective from the East on faith, scripture, and liturgical practices. His interests include right-wing politics, Church Fathers, and refuting Protestant heresy. His hobbies include basketball, baseball, and trivia, with the occasional adventure into the arena of chess.
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