Archbishop calls for 'fervent prayer' for peace in Holy Land, says 'compassion is not zero-sum game'

(OSV News) -- The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for "fervent prayer" to end the violence in the Holy Land, as the Israel-Hamas war nears its first year while threatening to expand into a wider regional conflict.

"As you know, our Catholic faith teaches us to hope even amidst the darkest of circumstances, for Christ is risen from the dead," said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services in a letter dated Oct. 2 and released Oct. 3.

The archbishop noted that Oct. 7 marks the first anniversary of Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel, when militants from the Gaza Strip stormed into approximately 22 locations in Israel, gunning down more than 1,200 people -- most of them civilians -- and taking over 240 civilians and soldiers hostage.

"The trauma of that day -- the deadliest for the Jewish people since the Holocaust -- continues for Israelis and for the Jewish community worldwide, who cry out for the return of those still held as hostages and who struggle with the dramatic rise of antisemitic incidents around the world," said Archbishop Broglio in his letter.

He noted that "in the ensuing war against Hamas in Gaza, over 40,000 people, the majority of whom are civilians, are estimated to have been killed," citing a statistic provided to media by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

The archbishop also pointed to increased attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, as well as anti-Muslim incidents in the U.S. and abroad, which have "risen dramatically over the last year."

In September, the war's attacks extended into Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Shia militia Hezbollah is based, and "the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has tragically intensified to armed conflict," said Archbishop Broglio.

He mourned "the terrible loss of life in Israel and in Gaza, as well as the spike in crimes of hate here in the U.S. and elsewhere (as) … a source of great sorrow to us as Catholics.

"Compassion is not a zero-sum game," said Archbishop Broglio. "We hear the cries of lament of all our brothers and sisters -- Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Muslims and Christians -- all of whom have been traumatized by these events. We join in mourning all whose lives have been cut short. We share the earnest desire for lasting peace."

"Both Jewish and Islamic tradition teach that 'whoever destroys a life, it is as if they have destroyed a whole world, and whoever saves a life, it is as if they have saved a whole world, (Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 4:9; The Qur’an, 5:32),'" said Archbishop Broglio, citing similar passages from the Talmud, Judaism's comprehensive collection of law and rabbinic commentaries; and the Quran, the sacred text of Islam.

Both passages recall "the immense cost when human life is destroyed," as well as "our obligation to work to save life," said Archbishop Broglio.

He also noted on Sept. 16, "our Muslim brothers and sisters observed the feast of Mawlid alNabi, the birth of the Prophet Muhammad," while on the evening of Oct. 2, "our Jewish brothers and sisters mark the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.

"Celebrations of new birth are meant to fill us with hope, but this year these celebrations come at a time of great anguish," said Archbishop Broglio.

Yet "out of death God brings forth a new creation," he said.

With the Oct. 7 anniversary approaching "in a time of anguish and trauma," the archbishop urged fellow bishops and faithful to "seek ways to express our solidarity with our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters," and to "commit ourselves to combat all forms of hatred directed towards Jews and Muslims, and to work for a lasting peace in the land of the Lord Jesus’ birth."

Archbishop Broglio also asked the nation's bishops to invite clergy and lay faithful of their dioceses to join in setting aside Oct. 7 as a day of fasting, prayer and penance, as the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has asked Christians in the Holy Land to do.

Such "fervent prayer," united with that of Pope Francis, seeks "an end to the violence in the Holy Land … the safe and prompt return of all hostages, and … the conversion of hearts so that hatred may be overcome, opening a pathway to reconciliation and peace," said Archbishop Broglio.