Christians around the world are in Holy Week, the solemn days leading up to Easter this Sunday.
On Maundy Thursday today, the faithful recall how Jesus taught his disciples the value of humility and servant leadership – a deliberate contrast to the grandeur and pride of the Roman Emperor of his time.
On Good Friday, the church commemorates the passion and agony of Jesus, who endured every aspect of human suffering and betrayal the world has ever known, yet stood firm in his conviction of love and sacrifice for humanity.
Sunday brings the resurrection – the revelation that death is not the final word.
A faith rooted in non-violence
The life of Jesus Christ, as portrayed in Holy Week, is profoundly non-violent.
That is what makes it so troubling to see Christian Zionists in the United States distort scripture and theological tradition to lend religious cover for the genocide in Gaza and the ongoing unjustified US-Israeli war against Iran which have brought death and immense suffering to countless civilians.
The cruelty inflicted on Jesus two thousand years ago finds a painful echo in what Christians, Muslims and Jews in the Holy Land are experiencing today.
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The pope’s rebuke
In his Palm Sunday homily, Pope Leo XIV described Jesus as the King of Peace “who rejects war” and “whom no one can use to justify war.”
He reminded Christians and people worldwide that Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them”.
[The timing could not have been more pointed. The pope’s words came in direct contrast to rhetoric from Trump administration officials who, in recent days, had invoked religion to promote the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth called on Americans to pray for victory in the war “in the name of Jesus Christ” and prayed for US troops to inflict “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy”.]
Pope Leo also lamented the many wounds of the human family, saying that in the life and suffering of Jesus, “we hear the painful groans of all those who are oppressed by violence and are victims of war”.
A civilisation of love
The pope’s message should embolden Christians everywhere to push back against the blatant distortion of scripture by Christian Zionists – and to hold Israeli Zionists to account for the atrocities committed in the name of religion.
Holy Week and the Easter story are ultimately about building what the late Pope John Paul II called a “civilisation of love”.
That vision is the very antithesis of imperialism and colonialism, which are rooted in domination, hate and violence.
The contrast could hardly be starker – or more urgent.
The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.
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