The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, pictured, has applauded a call by a Michigan bishop for prayer and fasting this month for peace in the Holy Land, writes Martin Barillas in the National Catholic Register, June 12, 2025
Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, is calling on Catholics to show solidarity with the suffering in the Holy Land in the interest of a lasting peace. In a letter to his diocese, he wrote that the Holy Land is uniquely blessed, for it was there that “God walked the earth in the person of Jesus Christ. It is to him as Prince of Peace, therefore, that we now turn in pursuit of a just and lasting peace for all who live in the Holy Land.”
Last year, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, similarly called for prayer and fasting on Oct. 7, the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in Israel that precipitated the current war in Gaza. The Register contacted the patriarch’s office in Jerusalem and received a response from his aide, Father Ibrahim Nino, who wrote:
Peace and blessings in Christ. On behalf of those of us who live and serve in the Holy Land, I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks for this recent call to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for peace in our region. May your compassionate call bear fruit in hearts turned toward God and in concrete steps toward reconciliation and justice.
Bishop Boyea called on Catholics to arm themselves with the “most powerful weapons that any Christian can wield: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.” He recalled the words of fifth-century St. Peter Chrysologus, who wrote of these spiritual armaments: “Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.”
The bishop is rallying Catholics in the cause of peace on Fridays in June — the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This includes June 13, the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, a follower of St. Francis of Assisi and patron saint of the Custody of the Holy Land. The Custodians are the Franciscan friars who maintain the Holy Places, including the Holy Sepulchre, and care for pilgrims in Jerusalem.
St. Francis was himself an advocate of peace, having gone to Egypt during the Fifth Crusade in 1219 and crossed a battle line into the Muslim camp to confer with the Sultan al-Kamil to preach the faith to Muslims. The sultan made concessions to the Franciscans that allowed them to become the protectors of the Holy Places ever since.
Bishop Boyea noted that, on the feast of St. Anthony, it’s traditional to bring lilies to altars dedicated to him. He noted that “the lily signifies and honors Our Lady, Queen of Peace, and invokes her maternal intercession.” He also recommended donating to the Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
During his May 28 address, Pope Leo XIV said, “From the Gaza Strip, the cries of mothers and fathers rise ever more intensely to heaven, as they hold the lifeless bodies of children, and who are continually forced to move in search of a little food and a safer shelter from the bombings. I renew my appeal to the leaders: ceasefire, release all hostages, fully respect humanitarian law. Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!”
Awad Qumseya, a native of the Holy Land who owns Blesart.com — a company that makes and sells crucifixes and icons made by Christians living there — told the Register that the war in nearby Gaza has had a significant impact on communities back home. He applauded Bishop Boyea’s call for prayer, saying that Christians are emigrating from the land of their birth and where Jesus Christ once trod.
“Tourism is the main source of income for Christians in the Holy Land. The war in Gaza has meant that fewer tourists are visiting the Holy Land, and that there is no income for Christians living there.” He added that despite the war in Gaza, “Pilgrims in the Holy Land are totally safe. Please come back. The Christian presence there is important, and your solidarity is shown by visiting and buying products from there.”
In an interview with the Register, Canon William Turner, pastor of St. Mary parish in Chelsea, Michigan, said that as a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, he raises funds for Christians in the Holy Land, including those in Israel and towns such as Bethlehem and Beit Sahur. He is in frequent contact with Cardinal Pizzaballa, who he said is “aware and highly appreciative” of Bishop Boyea’s appeal.
David Kerr, spokesman for the Lansing diocese, told the Register, “Bishop Boyea wanted to respond to the situation in the Holy Land, and it’s been a repeated theme in Pope Leo’s public addresses. It’s not within the competence of the diocese to detail political solutions, macro or micro, but it is surely within its competence to ask people to pray intently and offer fasts and almsgiving as the most powerful weapon that any Christian can wield.” Kerr said that he is not aware of any other U.S. bishops who have made a similar appeal.
Kishore Jayabalan, who chairs the Diocesan Commission on Catholic Social Teaching, told the Register that Church teaching “is not solely concerned with external structures of power but also realizes that virtues such as justice and peace have interior dimensions.” By acceding to the bishop’s appeal, Jayabalan said Catholics “learn to become less self-centered and more able to care for others as God wills us to do. There can be no just society without just people.”
* Martin Barillas is a writer and translator, having once served as a U.S. diplomat in Europe and South America. A lifelong Catholic, he resides in Michigan with his wife Alice and their four children and grandchild. He has written on a variety of topics, including human rights, politics and religion. He is also a novelist.
* Image OSV News photo/Debbie Hill