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'We Carry Nothing But Weapons of Peace,' Said Priest Days Before Israel Killed Him in Lebanon
Father Pierre al-Rahi stayed in his southern town to help support parishioners who were unable to flee Israeli's attacks.
Mar 10, 2026
Pope Leo XIV was among those expressing grief Monday over the killing of Father Pierre al-Rahi, a Maronite Catholic priest, in an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Qlayaa, days after he had insisted on staying in the region despite evacuation orders, in order to care for residents there.
Agence France-Presse reported that it was unclear why Israel targeted a home where a couple lived in Qlayaa at about 2:00 pm Beirut time on Monday. Up to now, Israeli forces had largely left the community untouched in their attacks on Lebanon in retaliation against Hezbollah, which has launched rockets at Israel in response to the Israeli-US war on Iran in recent days.
After a first strike was launched by a tank, wounding the owners of the house, al-Rahi was among the neighbors who rushed to the scene to help the residents. The priest was injured in a second strike and later died at a hospital from his injuries. Several other civilians were also wounded in the attack.
The pope expressed "profound sorrow for all the victims of the bombings in the Middle East over the last few days—for the many innocent people, including many children, and for those who were providing them with aid, such as Father Pierre El-Rahi, a Maronite priest killed this afternoon in Qlayaa."
Al-Rahi, who was 50, was killed days after speaking publicly in support of Lebanese civilians who are "defending our lands."
"As our forefathers said, we are only defending our land," said al-Rahi of the community members who were staying in the southern town in defiance of Israeli demands that the evacuate. "We are defending ourselves peacefully. None of us carry weapons. We carry nothing but the weapons of peace, goodness, love, prayer, and more prayer."
"That's why we want to preserve the fact that we are here on our land today," said the priest.
Three days ago, Father Pierre Al-Rai, the parish priest in the village of Al-Qlayaa in southern Lebanon, welcomed the Lebanese government’s recent decision declaring that any military or security activity outside the authority of the state is illegal—referring to the government’s… pic.twitter.com/BhxIk1rcGd
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) March 9, 2026
One Lebanese commentator said al-Rahi was "a priest with prayers. Murdered in broad daylight."
Israel's military has been bombing what it claims are Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon over the past week, and civilians have reported that residential areas are increasingly being targeted.
Qlayaa Mayor Hanna Daherl told Asia News that Israel claimed "there were fighters in the house, but that's not true. These are lies."
"Inside, there were only the residents of the house and people from the village who came to help the wounded," said Daher.
Israel demanded last week that residents of southern Lebanon—where about 200,000 people live—immediately leave and head north of the Litani River, but al-Rahi was among many clergy members who said they would stay to support civilians who couldn't leave their homes.
Aid to the Church in Need International told OSV News that "despite the growing insecurity in southern Lebanon, many priests and religious sisters have chosen to remain with their communities. Many Christian families have also stayed in their villages, unwilling to abandon their homes, land, and livelihoods."
Father Toufic Bou Merhi, a parish priest of two communities in the area, told EWTN News that fleeing the region would mean “living on the street or trying to rent a house, but people can’t afford it.”
He said the killing of al-Rahi has deeply impacted the local Catholic community, whose members are "weeping over the tragedy and, at the same time, are very afraid."
"Until now, people didn’t want to leave their homes in Christian villages, but in this situation, everything has changed,” Bou Merhi told EWTN News.
The French charity L'Oeuvre d'Orient, which supports Christians in the Middle East, condemned "in the strongest possible terms these acts of war, which aim to destabilize all of Lebanon and kill innocent civilians."
"The death of a priest who refused to leave his parish is yet another escalation of senseless violence," said the group. "L'Oeuvre d'Orient also denounces the risk of annexation and the disappearance of villages south of the Litani River, particularly historic Christian villages."
The Lebanese Health Ministry said Sunday that at least 394 people, including 42 women and 83 children, had been killed in Lebanon by Israeli forces since they began retaliating against Hezbollah.
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While Bethlehem Holds First Full Christmas Since Genocide Began, Little to Celebrate in Gaza
"This year's celebrations carry a message of hope and resilience for our people and a message to the world that the Palestinian people love peace and life."
Dec 24, 2025
With Gaza's Christian population decimated by Israeli attacks and forced displacement over the past two years, those who remain are taking part in muted Christmas celebrations this week as the West Bank city of Bethlehem displays its tree and holds festivities for the first time since Israel began attacking both Palestinian territories in October 2023.
Middle East Eye reported that while Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, led a Christmas Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on Sunday and baptized the newest young member of the exclave's Christian community, churches in Gaza have been forced this year to keep their celebrations indoors as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have continued its attacks despite a "ceasefire" that Israel and Hamas agreed to in October.
"Churches have suspended all celebrations outside their walls because of the conditions Gaza is going through," Youssef Tarazi, a 31-year-old Palestinian Christian, told MEE. "We are marking the birth of Jesus Christ through prayer inside the church only, but our joy remains incomplete."
"This year, we cannot celebrate while we are still grieving for those killed, including during attacks on churches," Tarazi said. "Nothing feels the same anymore. Many members of our community will not be with us this Christmas."
The IDF, Israeli officials, and leaders in the US and other countries that have backed Israel's assault on Gaza have insisted the military has targeted Hamas and its infrastructure, but Christian churches are among the places—along with schools, refugee camps, hospitals, and other civilian buildings—that have been attacked since 2023.
At least 16 people were killed just days into the war when the IDF struck the Church of Saint Porphyrius, one of the oldest churches in the world. In July, Israel attacked the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing two women and injuring several other people.
Palestinian officials say at least 44 Christians are among more than 71,000 Palestinians who have been killed since Israel began its assault in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack. Some have been killed in airstrikes and sniper attacks while others are among those who have died of illnesses and malnutrition as Israel has enforced a blockade that continues to limit food and medical supplies that are allowed into Gaza.
United Nations experts, international and Israeli human rights groups, and Holocaust experts are among those who have called Israel's assault a genocide, and the International Criminal Court issued a warrant last year for the arrest of Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
George Anton, the director of operations for the Latin patriarchate in Gaza, estimated that the number of Christians killed so far is at least 53, with many dying "because we could not reach hospitals or provide medicine, especially elderly people with chronic illnesses."
In the past, Muslims in Gaza have joined Christian neighbors for the annual lighting of Gaza City's Christmas tree and other festivities, and churches have displayed elaborate lights and decorations in their courtyards for the Christmas season.
"We decorated our homes," Anton told MEE. "Now, many homes are gone. We decorated the streets. Even the streets are gone... There is nothing to celebrate."
"We cannot celebrate while Christians and Muslims alike are mourning devastating losses caused by the war," he added. "For us, the war has not ended."
Hilda Ayad, a volunteer who helped decorate Holy Family Church earlier this month, told Al Jazeera that "we don't have the opportunity to do all the things here in the church, but something better than last year because last year, we didn't celebrate."
“We are trying to be happy from inside.”
Palestinian children are decorating Gaza’s only Catholic church for Christmas celebrations for the first time after 2 years of genocide. Pope Francis used to call the Holy Family Church almost every day until his death. pic.twitter.com/dtCdFjcTyo
— AJ+ (@ajplus) December 24, 2025
About 1,000 Christians, who were mainly Greek Orthodox or Catholic, lived in Gaza before Israel's latest escalation in the exclave began in 2023.
Greek Orthodox Church member Elias al-Jilda and Archbishop Atallah Hanna, head of the church's Sebastia diocese in Jerusalem, told the Washington Post that the population has been reduced by almost half. More than 400 Christians have fled Gaza in the last two years. Those who remain have often sheltered in churches, including the ones that have sustained attacks.
Al-Jilda told the Post that this year's celebrations "will not be full of joy, but it is an attempt to renew life."
In Bethlehem in the West Bank, officials have sought to send a message to the world this Christmas that "peace is the only path in the land of Palestine," Mayor Hanna Hanania told Anadolu Agency.
"This year's celebrations carry a message of hope and resilience for our people and a message to the world that the Palestinian people love peace and life," he said.
At Al Jazeera, Palestinian pastor Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac wrote that "celebrating this season does not mean the war, the genocide, or the structures of apartheid have ended."
"People are still being killed. We are still besieged," he wrote. "Instead, our celebration is an act of resilience—a declaration that we are still here, that Bethlehem remains the capital of Christmas, and that the story this town tells must continue."
"This Christmas, our invitation to the global church—and to Western Christians in particular—is to remember where the story began. To remember that Bethlehem is not a myth but a place where people still live," Isaac continued. "If the Christian world is to honor the meaning of Christmas, it must turn its gaze to Bethlehem—not the imagined one, but the real one, a town whose people today still cry out for justice, dignity, and peace."
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'Step Up and Speak Out': Chicago Pastors Lead the Charge Against ICE Detentions
"Silence is supporting this abuse of these members of God's family," one Chicago pastor told his congregants on Saturday.
Oct 12, 2025
As demonstrations against an immigration detention facility in Broadview, Illinois have ramped up in recent weeks, several local priests have joined in the protests to call attention to what they say are affronts to Christian teachings.
Father Larry Dowling, pastor at the St. Agatha Catholic Church in Chicago, wrote a lengthy Facebook post on Saturday in which he described his experience in trying to gain access to the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility to offer communion services to detainees.
Dowling began his post by praising the work of the Maywood and Broadview Police Departments, as well as the Illinois State Police, who facilitated his and his congregants' procession to the ICE facility on Saturday.
He was far less complimentary, however, about the reception he got after arriving at the ICE facility.
"There were no ICE or federal representatives there," he explained. "When requesting to talk with a representative from Homeland Security and ICE, the state police reached out on our behalf to make the request over the phone. After a brief wait, the answer came back very clearly: No, you cannot bring a hint of compassion and prayer into this place!"
Dowling called this response outrageous, and he encouraged his followers to pray for "the children, for the mothers and fathers who are being treated inhumanely" at the ICE facility.
"Please step up and speak out," he concluded. "Silence is supporting this abuse of these members of God's family."
In an interview with NPR published on Sunday, Rev. Quincy Worthington of Highland Park Presbyterian Church explained why he has become more involved in the ICE facility protests over the past few weeks.
"What I've experienced is that some people feel that God has abandoned Broadview, and they're looking at signs of hope," he told NPR reporter Ayesha Rascoe. "Having a member of clergy there standing with them is a reminder that God stands with them as well."
Rascoe then asked him if he'd witnessed incidents of violence during the demonstrations at Broadview, and he mostly pointed the finger at ICE officials.
"What I've seen every time I've gone is ICE's response to the protests has continually escalated," he said. "At first, they would come out of the gates, shove people to the ground, push people out of the way in order to make room for vehicles to enter and exit the facility. Then it started turning into they would shoot pepper balls at us. And then tear gas started coming out, and then flash-bangs and rubber bullets."
Worthington emphasized that he hadn't seen any actions taken by the demonstrators that "would provoke this response."
Rev. David Black, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, has also recently been making headlines for participating in demonstrations at the ICE facility, and last week he filed a lawsuit alleging that the government was infringing upon his First Amendment rights by using excessive force in response to his peaceful protests.
"I extended my arms, palms outstretched toward the ICE officers, in a traditional Christian posture of prayer and blessing," he alleged in his complaint. "Without any warning, and without any order or request that I and others disperse, I was suddenly fired upon by ICE officers. In rapid fire, I was hit seven times on my arms, face, and torso with exploding pellets that contained some kind of chemical agent. It was clear to me that the officers were aiming for my head, which they struck twice."
Video of Black getting shot in the head by pepper balls at the Broadview ICE facility went viral last week, he told CNN host Erin Burnett that he could hear ICE agents laughing as they opened fire on him.
"It was deeply disturbing," he said. "We've gotten to witness a few things against these ICE agents operating in Broadview, and really what it has shown us is how disorganized they are and how poorly supervised and trained they are."
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