Bishop Jim Curry, Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Bishops’ Conference, has spoken about the ongoing war in Iran, calling for the protection of the innocent and urging all parties to keep the door open to peace.
Speaking as a contributor taking part in a special episode of the ‘Middle East Analysis’ podcast series that features Dr Harry Hagopian, our former consultant on the Middle East North Africa Region, Bishop Curry amplified calls from Church leaders across the world for peace, reminding listeners that Pope Leo is “encouraging us to use our prayer to raise our voice against acts of inhumanity that to draw away from the dignity of every human person.”
Reflecting on the complexity of the current geopolitical status of the region, Bishop Curry called to mind the innocent victims who are inevitably trapped and left in a position of powerlessness.
“In the fog of war, it’s difficult to know what’s true… we’re struggling to understand what’s going on. But the reality is the suffering of innocent people.”
Bishop Curry went on to explain that there is a misplaced concern for power over the sanctity of life.
“Iran is a country of 90 million people and notwithstanding the concerns we all have are about how Iran is run and its influence in the region, I think we have to look to see how are the innocent being protected. I was very struck by the words of Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, who criticised the US and Israeli strikes as undermining international law, saying that ‘might’ has replaced ‘justice’.”
Despite the fact that the conflict in Iran began relatively recently, Bishop Curry reminded us that peace is not automatic, and it is important to be prepared for the work that will be demanded of peacemakers after the war has ended.
“The wounds that will be inflicted by this conflict will exacerbate the wounds that already exist in the region – the mistrust that already exists. So when this war ends, and it will end as all wars end, there has to be a rebuilding of civic structures. There has to be a rebuilding of trust among peoples.”
Bishop Curry emphasises that this work is not just for those in the region:
“Everybody has to keep the door open to reconciliation, to understanding the other, because the war will end and we will have to rebuild. I say ‘we’ because the international community who have been partakers of this war in different ways – reluctantly some, wholeheartedly others – will have to play their part in helping rebuild trust.”
This is a role we can all play through respectful conversations, encounter and dialogue, beginning in our own communities through to the level of international law and peacebuilding. In his closing remarks, Bishop Curry reminds us of our Christian calling to be peacemakers.
“Peace is an active activity. It’s not the absence of war. Peace is promoting dialogue. Peace is promoting getting to know the other. Peace is always seeking the good of the other. That is always the vocation of the Christian in any circumstance.”
