Family and friends of May Naim, 24, who was murdered by Palestinians militants at the “Supernova” festival near the Israeli border with Gaza Strip, react during her funeral on Oct. 11, 2023, in Gan Haim, Israel. / Credit: Amir Levy/Getty Images
CNA Staff, Oct 11, 2023 / 16:40 pm (CNA).
Over 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans have been confirmed killed while thousands more are wounded in the wake of Hamas’ large-scale surprise attack on Israel on Saturday, according to updated numbers from Israeli and U.S. authorities.
Hamas has continued to launch thousands of missiles at Israel’s major cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in the last several days.
President Joe Biden in an address Tuesday called the attack a moment of “pure unadulterated evil” unleashed by Hamas, who he said exists to “kill Jews.”
Casualty count rises
The Israeli Embassy to the U.S. said on Wednesday that over 1,200 were killed and more than 3,000 injured as a result of the attack.
Additionally, there are currently 535 injured persons in hospitals while 2,901 injured victims have been evacuated to hospitals since Saturday, according to the Israeli Ministry of Health.
Besides the killed and injured, the BBC reported that as many as 150 Israeli hostages were taken by Hamas, according to the Israeli government.
Israelis were not the only ones impacted by the attacks. In addition to the 22 Americans killed, citizens from countries across the world including the U.K., Germany, and Thailand are among the casualties, according to Israeli authorities.
Additionally, approximately 17 Americans are missing, possibly killed or kidnapped, according to a Wednesdaystatement by White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.
Hamas is a radical Islamic group that runs the Gaza Strip, an enclave of majority Muslim Palestinians in the southwestern corner of Israel. The group carried out Saturday’s invasion of Israel as an act of vengeance for what they call Israel’s aggression in the region.
The scale of the casualties and victims, which includes women, children, and the elderly, makes this one of the largest terrorist attacks since 9/11.
“This was an act of sheer evil,” President Joe Biden said on Tuesday. “The brutality of Hamas, in its bloodthirstiness, brings to mind the worst rampages of ISIS. This is terrorism. But sadly, for the Jewish people, it’s not new. This attack has brought to the surface painful memories and scars left by a millennia of antisemitism and genocide of the Jewish people. So, in this moment we must be crystal clear, we stand with Israel.”
Israeli response
In response, Israel, after declaring war on Hamas, is bombarding the Gaza Strip and has begun a full mobilization of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).
According to IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, Israeli troops have regained control of the towns and border regions captured by Hamas and have repaired the breaches in the border fence around Gaza.
Conricus said that 300,000 Israeli infantry, armor, and artillery soldiers are “now close to the Gaza strip to execute the mission that they have been given … to make sure that Hamas at the end of this war won’t have any military capabilities by which they can threaten or kill Israeli civilians.”
Israel has also sustained rocket and ground attacks from Hezbollah at its northern border with Lebanon and from within Syria at its northeastern border, according to Conricus.
“In southern Lebanon, Hezbollah has already fired anti-tank missiles and rockets at our positions and soldiers, fortunately without any significant casualties,” he said, adding that “there has already been an attempt by Islamic jihad terrorists to infiltrate into Israel.”
Conricus said: “That attempt was successfully thwarted by the IDF” but “at the cost of the life of a senior officer and two additional soldiers.”
“Rockets were fired from Syria into Israel,” he added. “We do not yet know if these rockets were fired by the Syrian armed forces, by any of the many Iranian militias, … or Hezbollah.”
U.S. response
The U.S., meanwhile, has promised to send military equipment and supplies to support Israel. According to the IDF, the first shipment of U.S. equipment landed in Israel’s Nevatim Air Force Base in southern Israel on Wednesday.
Additionally, the U.S. sent the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which includes a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier with eight squadrons of attack and support aircraft and several guided missile cruisers, to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, not far from Israel.
The purpose of the carrier group, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), is to “deter any actor seeking to escalate the situation or widen this war.”
CENTCOM also said that the Air Force is sending F-15s, F-16s, and A-10s to augment existing fighter squadrons in the region.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently traveling to Israel to express American solidarity and support and to further assess the situation.
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Catholic elementary school in Gbeji, Benue State, Central Nigeria. / Courtesy of Kyarto Tyoumbur
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 29, 2022 / 15:45 pm (CNA).
Details are still emerging after a violent raid by Fulani herdsmen Oct. 19 in Benue State… […]
Khartoum, Sudan, Jan 28, 2020 / 04:27 pm (CNA).- According to a local rights group in Sudan, three churches in a town were burnt down in December 2019 and quickly rebuilt, only to be burnt down again earlier this month.
Human Rights and Development Organization said that a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, and a Sudan Internal Church in Bout were burnt down on both Dec. 28 and Jan. 16; the church buildings had been rebuilt in the interim. Bout is the capital of Tadamoun district in Blue Nile state, more than 300 miles southeast of Khartoum.
According to HUDO, the alleged arsons were reported to Bout police each time, “but police did not investigate further or put preventive measures.”
The human rights organization has decried the attack and criticized the government for negligence of religious freedom.
But the Sundanese religious affairs minister, Nasr al-Din Mufreh, has claimed that only one church had been attacked twice.
The Sudan Tribune reported that Mufreh stated “Sudan’s full commitment to protecting religious freedoms.”
“If it is proven that it occurred as a result of a criminal offence, the perpetrators will be identified, pursued and brought to justice,” he said. He added that a suspect had been interrogated, but was released for lack of evidence.
Mufreh added that “The Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Blue Nile state government have committed themselves to build a church with modern materials (…) and taking appropriate measure for its future protection.”
Sudan was listed as a Country of Particular Concern for its religious freedom record by the US Department of State from 1999 to 2019.
In December 2019, it was moved to the Special Watch List “due to significant steps taken by the civilian-led transitional government to address the previous regime’s ‘systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.’”
Sudan had been under the military dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir since 1989, but pro-democracy protests led to his overthrow in April 2019. The country is now led by a transitional government.
According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, under Bashir the government “actively promoted and enforced a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam and imposed religious-based constraints on Muslims and non-Muslims.”
At least 90 percent of Sudan’s population is Muslim, and sharia is the source of the nation’s legislation. Apostasy from Islam is punishable by the death penalty.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition cover the altar, just dedicated by the cardinal. The covering of the altar signifies that it is both the place of the Eucharistic sacrifice and the Lord’s table. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Sep 12, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).
On Aug. 31, exactly 100 years after its dedication, the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant was reopened for worship on the hill of Kiryat Yearim, nine miles from Jerusalem.
The church, which was closed for four years for restoration work, stands atop the hill overlooking the (Muslim) village of Abu Gosh. From the top, visitors can see Jerusalem.
A view from the hill of Kiryat Yearim, where the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant stands. At the foot of the hill lies the Muslim village of Abu Gosh, with Jerusalem visible in the background, a little more than nine miles away. The place, mentioned in the Bible as “Kiriath-Jearim,” held an important role in the history of the Jewish people, as it was here that the Ark of the Covenant rested for about 20 years until King David brought it to Jerusalem. Credit: Marinella Bandini
The place, mentioned in the Bible as “Kiriath-Jearim,” has held an important role in the history of the Jewish people as it was here that the Ark of the Covenant rested after being recovered from the Philistines (see 1 Samuel 6).
The ark contained the two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments — God’s covenant with the Jewish people — were inscribed and was the sign of God’s presence among his people.
According to the Bible, it was hosted in the house of Abinadab, where it remained for about 20 years (see 1 Samuel 7:1-2) until King David brought it to Jerusalem.
For this reason, even today, the site is visited by many groups of Jews.
A Byzantine basilica was built on the top hill around the fifth century. The current church, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1920, stands on the remains of that building. It was consecrated in 1924 by the then-Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Luigi Barlassina, and dedicated to Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant.
The Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim (exterior). The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, whom Christians also honor with the title of “Ark of the Covenant.” “The covenant of God with his people finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who is no longer just the sign of God’s presence but God himself among us. Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant because she carried Christ himself in her womb,” said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, in his homily. Credit: Marinella Bandini
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the current Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, recently came to the basilica to dedicate its new altar on the occasion of the reopening of the church.
“This reopening is a moment of trust in the future, a desire to start anew, and this is what we need most at this time, when everything around us speaks of death and endings,” he told CNA after the celebration on Aug. 31.
The opening of the doors of the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim on Aug. 31, 2024, for the solemn celebration with the rite of dedication of the altar, presided over by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
“Climbing this mountain, blessed by the presence of the Lord,” he added, “invites us to have a broad and farsighted perspective on events and not to close ourselves off in the dramatic present moment.”
Hosting the event were the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, a French congregation founded in 1832 by Mother Emilie De Vialar, which owns and operates the church and surrounding property.
The complete details of how the land came to be acquired by the sisters are lost to history, but it centers on one of the order’s sisters who died in 1927. Sister Josephine Rumèbe, who is buried in the church, was reportedly endowed with special mystical gifts and managed to acquire the land on behalf of the sisters. The story goes that she had 5,000 francs at her disposal and sought the help of a clergyman for the purchase. To prevent a competing buyer from acquiring it, the cleric secured the entire hill for 20,372 francs. Miraculously, when Sister Josephine counted the gold coins hidden in her room, the amount matched exactly what she needed.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, pours the chrism oil on the new altar of the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim. On Aug. 31, 2024, he presided over the solemn Mass with the rite of dedication of the altar, marking the reopening of the church after four years of restoration and maintenance work. Credit: Marinella Bandini
The dedication of the new altar in the basilica took place after the recitation of the creed and chanting of the litanies. The cardinal placed relics in the altar, including that of Mother Emilie De Vialar, who was canonized a saint in 1951. This was followed by the anointing of the altar with chrism oil, the incensing of the altar, the covering of the altar, and the lighting of the altar.
The relics placed inside the new altar of the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim, which was dedicated by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, on Aug. 31, 2024. Among the relics are those of Mother Emilie De Vialar, founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, the order who owns the church and surrounding property. Credit: Marinella Bandini
“The covenant of God with his people finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who is no longer just the sign of God’s presence but God himself among us. Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant because she carried Christ himself in her womb,” said the cardinal in his homily, inviting the faithful, following the example of the Virgin Mary, to renew their trust in God as the Lord of history and active within history.
Upon entering the church — whose iconographic elements were created by artists from the Ave Center of the Focolare Movement — the eye is drawn to the golden flame emanating from the center of the apse.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, celebrates the Eucharistic liturgy on the altar he dedicated in the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim on Aug. 31, 2024. Credit: Marinella Bandini
A special decoration that, on one hand, evokes the biblical significance of fire, symbolizing the presence of God, and on the other, is connected to the history of this place and particularly to Sister Josephine’s vision of a “mountain of fire,” holds significance here.
When she was still a young postulant in France, during Eucharistic adoration, Sister Josephine had a vision of flames forming a mountain with Jesus above them instead of the host. The vision then vanished, and only 50 years later, at the time of laying the foundation stone of the church, it was revealed to her that the “mountain of fire” was indeed Kiryat Yearim, which she used to call “the Holy Mountain.”
Sister Valentina Sala, the current provincial of the congregation for the Holy Land, immediately felt a strong connection to this place. She recounted to CNA: “The first time I came here for a few weeks, a sister took me to Kiryat Yearim. I knelt at Sister Josephine’s tomb and prayed to return if that was God’s will.”
Sister Valentina Sala, the current provincial of the congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition for the Holy Land, prays at the tomb of Sister Josephine Rumèbe, founder of the convent and the church in Kiryat Yearim. “The first time I came here for a few weeks, a sister took me to Kiryat Yearim. I knelt at Sister Josephine’s tomb and prayed to return if that was God’s will,” she recounted to CNA. Credit: Marinella Bandini
On the centenary of the church’s dedication, Sister Valentina also emphasized the significance of this place for her congregation, whose charism is to serve the needs of people through works of charity.
“What is charity work? What people need today is not just health care or education; there is a hunger and thirst for God. We must be able to recognize this need, helping those who come here to listen to his voice. We need places where people can pause and rest with God,” she said.
When the construction of the church was nearly complete, Sister Josephine had a vision of the Virgin Mary, at the top of the church, facing Jerusalem with outstretched arms in a gesture of dispensing grace. A statue now stands above the church to recall that vision, facing away from those entering and directed toward Jerusalem.
“This place, which evokes the covenant, invites us to realign ourselves with God and to be under this blessing,” Sister Valentina concluded.
This is also the meaning of the words she addressed to those present — the vast majority of local faithful from Jerusalem as well as from Galilee — at the end of the Mass.
Hundreds of local faithful from Jerusalem and Galilee attend the solemn Mass with the rite of dedication of the altar, marking the reopening of the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim, on Aug. 31, 2024. A hundred years ago, Sister Josephine Rumèbe of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition wrote about having seen a vision of “a crowd rushing toward the basilica. I saw priests, sisters of our order, and then men and women of the world who were even more pleasing to God than all the others, holy souls shining like stars.” Credit: Marinella Bandini
“Sister Josephine had already seen you in various visions: ‘I saw a crowd rushing toward the basilica. I saw priests, sisters of our order, and then men and women of the world who were even more pleasing to God than all the others, holy souls shining like stars.’”
She continued: “And what if we are that vision? What if we are that future? Of course, we are! From now on, you will be the ones to bring life to this hill, to this covenant between God and his people. Come, rush, stay, feel at home. There is not only a newly renovated church to see but a Presence to discover: Take the time to dwell with the Lord. What could be more beautiful… Many graces await to be dispensed from here!”
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