The Bishop of Derry joined his fellow Catholic prelates in calling for prayers for peace in Gaza at Masses across Ireland this weekend.
Dr. McKeown is among the co-signatories of a hard-hitting statement about the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Palestine issued by the Irish Bishops’ Conference on Friday.
“In Gaza people are starving and adequate aid is being denied; it seems clear that famine is being used as a weapon of war. Already over 600,000 Palestinians have been displaced.
"The evidence points to a staged strategy of ethnic cleansing aimed at removing the Palestinian people from their homes and their homeland.
"It is becoming increasingly clear to people on the ground that these are genocidal actions sanctioned by the Government of Israel.
“What is happening in Gaza – and the West Bank – is the death of tens of thousands of non-combatants, many of them women and children. This is unconscionable and disproportionate. It is immoral for world leaders to stand by inactively in the face of this outrageous tragedy for humanity.
“Words are not enough! There is an urgent need for the international community to intervene, cut off arms supplies and bring the carnage to an end,” they stated.
To date, the statement noted, almost 55,000 people have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank, since the horrific events of October 7, 2023.
They added: “People in parishes across the country are horrified by what they are witnessing. They may feel helpless.
"But they can show their solidarity in different ways by lobbying their political representatives, by supporting humanitarian aid and, above all, by continuing to pray for an end to the conflict now and the resumption of peace, including the return of all hostages and prisoners.”
They referred to the recent words of Pope Leo XIV who at a General Audience on May 28, said: “In the Gaza Strip, the cry of mothers, of fathers who clutch the lifeless bodies of children and who are continually forced to move in search of a little food and safer shelter from bombing, rises ever more intensely to the sky.”