(LifeSiteNews) — A group consisting of thousands of Catholic priests issued a statement mourning the Israeli army’s killing of a brother priest in Lebanon earlier this week, demanding accountability “before international justice” and calling for a day of prayer and fasting on Friday.
“Priests Against Genocide” is an organization that came into being last year denouncing Israel’s ongoing genocide against the civilian population of Gaza, including “the war crimes, ethnic cleansing,” and “the use of starvation as a weapon of extermination.”
A spokesperson for the network of clergy told LifeSiteNews that members currently include “2,200 priests in 59 countries, including two cardinals and 25 bishops/archbishops.”
“We express our deepest and most heartfelt condolences for the killing of Father Pierre Al-Rahi, parish priest of St. George in Qlayaa, southern Lebanon, torn from his land and his people on March 9 by an attack by the Israeli army,” the statement opened.
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Expressing solidarity with the Christian communities in southern Lebanon, with candor the priests described that “Father Pierre did not die as a result of a tragic mistake but while carrying out the highest evangelical mandate: helping his neighbor,” the group decried. “After a tank fired a first shot at a house, the priest rushed to the scene with some young people to help the wounded. It was then that a second shot struck him fatally.”
“This double-tap, which deliberately targets rescuers, is a brutal violation of humanitarian law,” the priest association emphasized. “Father Pierre, 50, had chosen not to abandon his flock despite evacuation orders, bearing witness that faith does not flee in the face of threat.”
Israeli crimes a ‘scandal that cries out for vengeance before God’
Emphasizing that the priests “cannot remain silent,” they observed that Israel’s commission of atrocities in Lebanon “are a continuation of the carnage that is ravaging Palestine.”
“The current Israeli government, which orders and carries out these attacks against civilians, children, and ministers of God, must be held accountable for its actions before international justice,” the organization demanded.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense chief Yoav Gallant “for crimes against humanity and war crimes,” including “starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
Continuing, the priests deplored that the “impunity enjoyed by those who use the ‘logic of the strongest’ is a scandal that cries out for vengeance before God.”
They also denounced the ethnic cleansing being inflicted upon the southern population of Lebanon by the U.S.-backed Israeli army along with the ongoing annexation and disappearance of villages.
Official reports indicate registered displaced persons in Lebanon is currently 780,000 of a total population totaling 5.8 million (13.4%).
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Echoing the words of Pope Leo XIV, the network of clergy asked that “the roar of bombs cease,” pleading that “space be opened for true dialogue,” and emphasizing that war “is never the solution, but a defeat for all humanity.”
The priests went on to invite all communities to participate in a Day of Prayer and Fasting on Friday, March 13.
“Our only weapons remain faith, the desire for peace, and hope in the resurrection, as Father Pierre himself said shortly before his death,” the statement recalls.
Israeli-US aggression against Iran condemned ‘in the strongest possible terms’
As U.S.-backed Israeli airstrikes continue throughout Lebanon, the nation’s health ministry updated its death figures on Wednesday, reporting 570 Lebanese killed in the last 1 1/2 weeks.
Included are 439 men, 45 women, and 86 children, with 14 of the slain being health workers in the line of duty.
Additionally, the “Priests Against Genocide” spokesperson emphasized to LifeSiteNews that the organization condemns the aggressions of the United States and Israel against Iran “in the strongest possible terms.”
“We state clearly that such military strikes are not justifiable as ‘preventive defense.’ Using the pretext of prevention to launch attacks on sovereign nations only serves to escalate the cycle of hatred and destabilization,” the priests said. “True defense is found in the pursuit of peace and the protection of the innocent, not in the proactive spread of war.”
“This aggression against Iran, much like the violence in Lebanon and Palestine, is a defeat for all humanity,” the group implored before once again, inviting all to join in the day of prayer and fasting for peace on Friday.
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