(LifeSiteNews) — Two bishops and two priests have endorsed a Catholic layman’s appeal to Pope Leo XIV to conduct a worldwide prayer vigil for the suffering civilians of Gaza and the Holy Land. Bishop Athanasius Schneider endorsed this appeal, as he confirmed to LifeSite. Bishop Joseph Strickland, the former bishop of Tyler, Texas, also supports this initiative and published on July 29 on X a statement in support of this appeal.
The appeal (see full text below) was written by Ernest Williams, a Catholic layman who is known to LifeSite readers for his attempt at getting the Vatican to change its position with regard to the COVID shot. During the papacy of Pope John Paul II, he founded two prominent youth evangelization initiatives for the Church. As he states himself in his appeal addressed to the Pope, he already organized several prayer vigils for peace since 2024.
As can be seen in his appeal, Mr. Williams agonizes over the suffering of the civilians in Gaza and the Holy Land, “sufferings not unlike those of the early Christians martyred in the stadiums of Rome,” and he bemourns the fact that “the world, as a spectator, still shamefully watches on. (cf. Hebrews 13:3)”
In light of this human misery, the author, supported by Bishops Schneider and Strickland, as well as by two priests, Fr. John Anthony Boughton, CFR, and Fr. P. Rolf-Philipp Schönenberger, calls upon the Pope, urging that the Vatican proclaim a World Day of Prayer and Fasting for Gaza. He specifically asks for the following prayer intentions:
- To weep with the victims, and hold up the names of the dead before God;
- To pray for justice, peace, and healing in Gaza and the wider Holy Land;
- To cry out against the use of hunger and bombing as weapons, and for those who perpetrate these acts to repent;
- To renew the Church’s voice for the poor and oppressed, as prophets of mercy.
The situation in Gaza has gained recently more international attention and indignation of conservatives in America after a July 17 Israeli attack on the Holy Family parish, the only Catholic church in Gaza, as well as after some Israeli settlers attacked a Christian village in the West Bank. Pope Leo XIV went on that same day to the public and bemourned the “loss of life and injury caused by the military attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza” and called for a ceasefire, repeating that call the following day in a telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He repeatedly called for a ceasefire.
Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, on July 30, interviewed Professor John Mersheimer, who clearly stated that “The Israelis are executing a genocide in Gaza, and we are complicitous in that genocide.” Devastating reports are coming now out of Gaza, showing the bodies of starving Palestinian children. As The Guardian pointed out a few days ago, “data compiled and published by Israel’s own government makes clear that it has been starving Gaza. Between March and June, Israel allowed just 56,000 tonnes of food to enter the territory, Cogat records show, less than a quarter of Gaza’s minimum needs for that period.”
Mr. Williams’s desire for a World Day of Prayer and Fasting for Gaza has to be seen on the background of this tremendous suffering of civilians in Gaza.
Bishop Strickland, in his post on X, strongly endorses this Appeal and calls for mercy for the Palestinians: “As a successor to the apostles and a bishop of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church,” he wrote, “I stand in solidarity with all faithful Catholics who have appealed to the Holy Father to proclaim a Universal Vigil of Prayer and Fasting for Gaza and the Holy Land. We cannot remain silent. The blood of innocents cries out from the rubble. The suffering of families, the death of children, the desecration of a Catholic sanctuary in Gaza – these are not distant reports. They are wounds to the Body of Christ.”
Please see here Ernest Williams’ Appeal to Pope Leo XIV as endorsed by Bishops Schneider and Strickland, as well as two priests:
Gaza Vigil Appeal to Pope Leo XIV
Feast of St. Mary Magdalene 2025
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV
Apostolic Palace
Vatican City State
VA 00120
Your Holiness, Vicar of Christ, Pope Leo XIV,
The Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. I last wrote on the Feast of St. Barnabas concerning the sufferings of the Palestinians of Gaza and the Holy Land — sufferings not unlike those of the early Christians martyred in the stadiums of Rome; while the world, as a spectator, still shamefully watches on. (cf. Hebrews 13:3) I asked you to call the Universal Church to a Vigil of Prayer and Fasting for the Palestinians of Gaza. (cf. Joel 2:15–17) I do not know whether the Secretary of State passed you that letter.
Last year, I promised the Lord three Vigils for World Peace, following a dream on All Saints’ Day in which a young girl — whom I understood to be a martyr of Gaza — appeared to me. The first vigil was held on December 8th, the second on New Year’s Eve. The third, last Eve of Pentecost, I dedicated specifically to Gaza. Not one church in Zurich opened its doors. I write this with anguish, not anger, because I love the Church. But if we cannot light a candle for the innocent, then what has happened to our faith witness? (cf. Proverbs 31:8–9)
I have been told that such a vigil is ‘too political.’ But to stand in prayer for the innocent is not a political act — it is a Gospel imperative. (cf. Isaiah 1:17; James 1:27) Jesus Himself wept over Jerusalem and stood with the marginalised, regardless of the offence it caused. (cf. Luke 19:41–44; Matthew 23:37)
Recently you mentioned the 1914 Christmas Truce during World War I — that moment on a frozen battlefield when enemy soldiers played football together in defiance of war. My grandfather never returned from that war. His scorched Bible was all that came home. In Gaza today, there are no such moments of grace. Children are bombed, starved, and buried. Their angels, as Jesus said, behold the face of God. (cf. Matthew 18:10)
The recent bombing of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza, killing civilians who had sought sanctuary, cries out for a clear, prophetic response. Your Holiness, we need the voice of Peter to speak not only with compassion, but also with justice.
We believe the time has come for the universal Church to act—not only in word, but in prayerful witness. We therefore respectfully and urgently ask:
That the Holy See proclaim a World Day of Prayer and Fasting for Gaza, inviting all dioceses, parishes, religious houses, and Catholic faithful, together with our brothers and sisters in the Orthodox Churches, Protestant communities, and all Christian denominations, to gather in solemn vigil before the Lord, for the following intentions:
- To weep with the victims, and hold up the names of the dead before God;
- To pray for justice, peace, and healing in Gaza and the wider Holy Land;
- To cry out against the use of hunger and bombing as weapons, and for those who perpetrate these acts to repent;
- To renew the Church’s voice for the poor and oppressed, as prophets of mercy.
We echo the Holy Father’s own words: “No conflict is distant when human dignity is at stake.” Let this truth be proclaimed from every altar.
Through the intercession of Our Lady, Queen of Peace and Queen of Palestine, we entrust this appeal with trust and hope.
In humble obedience and fraternal love in Christ,
Ernest Williams
(address and email address withheld by LifeSite)
