(OSV News): Catholic leaders in the Holy Land expressed their “unreserved condemnation” after a photograph of an Israeli soldier desecrating a statue of Jesus in Debel, a Christian village in southern Lebanon, went viral on social media.
The photograph, posted on X by Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi, showed an Israeli soldier striking the head of a statue of the crucified Jesus with a sledgehammer.
In a statement signed by Pierbattista Cardinal Pizzaballa and issued on April 20, the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land expressed its “profound indignation and unreserved condemnation of the desecration of a representation of Jesus Crucified by an Israeli soldier in a Lebanese village.”
The statement said, “This act constitutes a grave affront to the Christian faith and adds to other reported incidents of desecration of Christian symbols by IDF [Israel Defense Force] soldiers in southern Lebanon.” It also reveals “a disturbing failure in moral and human formation, wherein even the most elementary reverence for the sacred and for the dignity of others has been gravely compromised.”
Israeli authorities condemned the actions of the Israeli soldier who desecrated the statue of Jesus in the village, to which Israel had denied humanitarian access for weeks.
The IDF said it was investigating the incident. In a statement published on April 19, it said an initial examination confirmed the photograph’s authenticity, stating that it “views the incident with great severity and emphasises that the soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops.”
The IDF said, “The incident is being investigated by the Northern Command and is currently being addressed through the chain of command. Appropriate measures will be taken against those involved in accordance with the findings.”
“The Assembly calls for immediate and decisive disciplinary action, a credible process of accountability, and clear assurances that such conduct will neither be tolerated nor repeated,” the Catholic leaders of the Holy Land said in their April 20 statement.
