Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- Senior Catholic leaders in the Holy Land have condemned repeated attacks on Christian symbols by Israeli forces, warning that recent incidents reflect a broader pattern rather than isolated acts.
In a statement signed by Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land expressed “profound indignation” over the desecration of an image of Jesus Christ by an Israeli soldier in a village in Lebanon.
The Assembly said the act constitutes a serious insult to the Christian faith. It added that the incident is not isolated, pointing to multiple reported cases of desecration of Christian symbols by Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.
Church officials said the incident reveals a deeper problem. They warned of a failure in moral and human conduct, where even basic respect for religious symbols and human dignity has eroded.
The statement called for immediate disciplinary measures and a credible process of accountability. It urged clear guarantees that such actions will not happen again.
The leaders also renewed their call to end the ongoing Israeli-US wars in the region. They said lasting peace cannot emerge from violence and must instead rely on restraint, dialogue, and respect for human life.
Despite global outrage over the incident, the Israeli army has decided not to refer the soldier who destroyed a statue of Jesus Christ to a criminal investigation, opting instead for a disciplinary reprimand without opening a military police probe.
