Looking east on a clear day, Usama Nicola can see Amman, Jordan, from his balcony in Bethlehem. Since Israel and the US jointly attacked Iran on February 28, the father of three has been able to trace the white smoke…
Good Friday: Empty chairs at empty tables
The morning began the way mornings are supposed to begin. Children arrived with backpacks slung over their shoulders, voices rising and falling in the easy rhythm of laughter and routine. Classrooms filled. Lessons began. It was, in every visible way,…
Pope Leo XIV rejects claims that God justifies war in Palm Sunday Mass message
Pope Leo XIV said Sunday that God doesn’t listen to the prayers of those who make war or cite God to justify their violence, as he prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during a Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s…
Hegseth declares war on Defense Dept. reporters, photographers
The U.S. Department of Defense is waging a multi-front war against American news media outlets over negative coverage of the war in Iran and unflattering photos of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The war is being fought on three fronts. First,…
Evangelical and Catholic leaders differ over Trump’s Iran war
Pro-Trump evangelicals are applauding his war in Iran, saying it will change history. But the nation’s Catholic leaders question its justification and morality while criticizing the administration’s “sickening” videos that blend footage of destruction and casualties in Iran with scenes…
AI goes to war, and schoolchildren are dead
The U.S.-Israel war against Iran entered its third week amid political confusion and mixed messaging. The Trump regime initially told the press the attacks would last around four weeks. On March 9, Trump told CBS News the war was “very…
Ramadan During a War
I was on a train the other night, speeding toward a mosque in north London, in a moderately — well, very — bad mood. I’d spent the day deep in news of the war, counting bodies and bombs for the…
Are US military commanders really talking about Armageddon?
Are U.S. military commanders really telling the soldiers fighting in Iran that President Donald Trump has been “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth”? In a piece published…
What does Amos say about Israel and Gaza?
As the saga in Gaza continued to unfold, Israel partially opened the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. While the opening has allowed some medical evacuations and limited returns, it is a modest change when set against the scale…
Conversing with Jesus in time of war, 2026
We have as a nation entered into yet another war, this one in Iran. War places special stresses on the Christian conscience, especially when the war is defended as “preemptive,” that is, a war in anticipation of an attack, to…
The real reason for the Iranian strike? Padding political pocketbooks
The famed “cowboy philosopher” and social commentator Will Rogers once observed, “The short memory of the American voter is what keeps our politicians in office.” Lest we forget, however, that on Nov. 10, 2013, Donald Trump tweeted: “Remember that I…
Letter to the Editor: A story for Ramadan and Lent
This year, in a somewhat rare convergence of calendars, Ramadan and Lent began on the same day — sacred seasons of prayer and devotion now wounded and scarred by missiles and bombs. That grave irony has called to mind, for…