In a video circulated widely on social media, around 30 protesters can be seen entering the Cathedral with banners featuring the Palestine flag and images of people killed in Gaza.
The protest happened after the distribution of the Eucharist and one of the banners read “silence is violence” and another read “don’t make Christ complicit in genocide”.
The protesters described themselves as “cross-community Christians” and said it was a “silent, dignified procession at the end of communion”.
In a video uploaded by one of the protesters, it was remarked that when Russia invaded Ukraine, the Catholic Church in Ireland called for a ceasefire and they asked why the Church in Ireland had not said the same about Gaza.
As far back as 8 October, 2023, Pope Francis has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and has repeatedly renewed this call, as well as a call to end to the “desperate humanitarian situation” in Gaza.
Last month, Pope Francis also called for an international investigation into whether genocide is taking place in Gaza.
This came after a United Nations Special Committee judged Israel’s conduct of warfare in Gaza is “consistent with the characteristics of genocide”, accusing the country of “using starvation as a method of war”.
Israel’s embassy to the Vatican responded to Pope Francis by quoting its ambassador Yaron Sideman, who said “Israel has exercised its right of self-defence against attempts from seven different fronts to kill its citizens” since Hamas’s 7 October, 2023 attack.
“Any attempt to call it by any other name is singling out the Jewish State,” the statement added.
Here at home, the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has for several years asked the Irish Government to progress the Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban trade between Ireland and illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine.
Prior to last week’s election, the Bishops’ Conference encouraged voters to ask candidates where they stood on the immediate ending of the war in Gaza and to only vote for candidates who will support the enactment of the Occupied Territories Bill.
Father Barry Mathews was presiding over Mass in Armagh Cathedral during the protest.
Before the end of Mass, he said the parish has raised over €6,000 for “the care of children in Gaza” and to “try and help alleviate the suffering”.
“We don’t use Mass as a moment for a quick snapshot,” said Matthews.
“We come together to pray for those who are suffering”.
He also said the Cathedral was not the place for a “political statement”.
In a statement today, the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference said that while it is “very sympathetic to the plight of the people of Gaza, it was very disappointing that a group of protesters chose to disrupt the celebration of Mass in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral”.
“At a personal level, and together with the other Irish bishops, Archbishop Eamon Martin has spoken out strongly and frequently on the issue of the horrific devastation and loss of life in Gaza, most recently in the Bishops’ Conference’s pre-election statement of two weeks ago,” added the statement.
“The bishops have also encouraged humanitarian help for Gaza and the Middle East through locally based charitable outreach, and through Trócaire’s ongoing special appeal.”
Archbishop Eamon Martin is the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, and the Bishops’ Conference said he has “urged the international community to consider if war crimes are being committed with the merciless bombardment of civilians and the effective blocking of humanitarian aid to the defenceless people of Gaza”.