Catholic Reading Wednesday

With many thanks to our wonderful and insightful curator, Karen Celano, you can delve into a faith-related news article each Wednesday! Karen writes:

For anyone following international news during the past few months, this has been a summer of tumult, especially in the Middle East. In Iraq, as President Obama tries to decide whether or not to expand the air campaign against the terrorist organization that calls itself the Islamic State (ISIS), people around the world have been horrified by the execution of American journalist and Catholic James Foley. American Catholics have in particular been moved by Foley’s deep faith and devout prayer life, and some have even called Foley a “martyr.”

However, Alana Massey warns in Religion Dispatches against jumping to this conclusion, questioning whether Foley died for his faith or for his nationality. Furthermore, she argues, turning Foley into a martyr simply plays into ISIS’ desire to turn their acts of terror into a “holy war” and transforms the situation in Iraq into a “battleground. . . for competitive martyrdom.” Other writers have similarly warned us not to see Catholic and Christian leaders’ condemnation of ISIS’ persecution of Christians as a call to a holy war, although some writers seem to feel that taking a morally-based military stance against ISIS at all is tantamount to declaring divine justification for a “Christian crusade against Islam.” Certainly we do not wish to be dragged into a situation of increasing extremism in which each side claims a heaven-ordained high ground, but we should also not allow ISIS’ warped manipulation of religion and morality to intimidate us from insisting on our right to engage in clear theological and moral reasoning in our efforts to oppose their reign of terror. In other words: right remains right, and wrong remains wrong.

Only about 530 miles west of Iraq, Israel and Gaza have also exploded into chaos. While Hamas has been condemned for its extremist ideology and its militant refusal to recognize Israel’s legitimacy, Israel has also been heavily criticized for its handling of the war. As the National Catholic Register reported, various Catholic experts have morally analyzed the situation in Israel and the actions of both sides during the conflict. Some Catholic ethicists, while not denying Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself, have warned that its recent actions are in violation of just war principles, and fear that Israel’s attempts to justify its behavior are based increasingly on a demonization and "dehumanization” of all Gazans whether they are Hamas militants or not. Tragically but not unexpectedly, it is the ordinary citizens of Gaza who bear the brunt of the military conflict – but, unless the economic situation in Gaza is ameliorated, some warn that even those ordinary Gazans might be “radicalized. . . to the point where Hamas. . . look[s] moderate.”

Under the auspices of the Catholic humanitarian aid agency Caritas, some Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Jerusalem have striven to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but their efforts alone will not be able to end the region’s poverty. Pope Francis, during his visit to the Holy Land in May, reiterated Israel’s right to exist, but also urged for the use of diplomacy and compromise in coming to a two-state solution – a hope which some observers have argued may be increasingly impossible to attain.

Let us pray that the ceasefire announced in Gaza on Tuesday will hold, and that all parties can be graced with the gift of looking past their antagonisms and hatred in order to secure a true and lasting peace.