Archbishop Crotty will hold the portfolio of the Holy See’s diplomatic liaison to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as well as Permanent Observer of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

In your current work on war in Gaza following the October 7 violence, tell us about your work on the Commission of Inquiry and human rights investigations...Our Commission of Inquiry was established long before the current escalation of violence in Gaza from 7th of October. We were set up in 2021, which actually is two Gaza wars ago, although I refuse to think of these episodes as being individual wars. They are really episodes in a war that's been going on now for almost a century. Because we were set up in 2021, we were set up in response to the violence that occurred that year. There was another outbreak of violence in 2022, and then, of course, the current bout which started on the 7th of October 2023. Our mandate is to investigate and report, and also to encourage accountability. That accountability side is very important because it means that the results of our work feed into international courts and local courts exercising jurisdiction in relation to war crimes and crimes against humanity. So, (we focus) very much onto the international accountability angle and our responsibilities to cooperate with courts.

We report twice a year, in June to the UN Human Rights Council and in October to the UN General Assembly. Those two reports are our official reports each year, but we also produce other documents. As and when they are available, we release them dealing with different aspects of the human rights situation in Israel and Palestine. Since the 7th of October 2023, our focus of work over the last fourteen months has been exclusively on what happened on that day and subsequently.In terms of your findings, can you tell us about or highlight some of what you have discovered?Even before the events of the 7th of October, we were looking at the underlying root causes of the situation, and we were required specifically to do that by the Human Rights Council. So, our report to the General Assembly in 2022 examined the Israeli occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. And we came to the conclusion that the occupation was unlawful. That was our finding based on the facts as we gathered them and investigated them. We said to the General Assembly on that occasion that our findings were our considered views, but that the General Assembly should seek the most authoritative legal interpretation possible, and that was by means of an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. We were very pleased that the General Assembly acted almost immediately on that recommendation, made the referral to the International Court of Justice and that Court delivered its decision in July of this year. The Court, not surprisingly, came to the same conclusions in law as we had. And that is that the occupation was illegal. The settlements were illegal, are illegal. The Court ordered that Israel should end the occupation as rapidly as possible, cease settlement expansion immediately, and evacuate all existing settlements and settlers as rapidly as possible. These decisions of the Court were completely consistent with the opinion that we had expressed in 2022.

We were pleased that the Court relied almost entirely on our investigative work in its decision. This to us indicated that the Court was taking our work seriously and taking our conclusions seriously. In looking at the situation since 7 October, we reported in June this year to the Human Rights Council on the first part of our investigations, and that is what happened on 7 October and 8 October in southern Israel, and what happened between those dates and the end of 2023 in Gaza. So far as the events in southern Israel were concerned, we came to the conclusion that the armed Palestinian groups had committed war crimes, including the targeting of civilians, deliberate killing of civilians, taking of hostages, torture and mistreatment, and sexual violence.In relation to events in Gaza from then till the end of 2023, we came to the conclusion that the Israeli forces had embarked upon an operational strategy that inevitably meant the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity on a mass scale. These were the inevitable consequences of the strategy of total destruction that the Israeli military forces implemented in their attacks on Gaza and in the fighting that has occurred in Gaza since then. And indeed, that's our view continuing into 2024, as expressed in our most recent report to the UN General Assembly. We found that there were war crimes, the deliberate targeting of civilians, again mistreatment amounting to torture in many instances, the arbitrary detention of thousands of Palestinian men and boys from Gaza, of sexual violence against men and boys in particular, but also against women. And we found that there was evidence to ground the finding of crimes against humanity, in particular in relation to the crime of extermination.

So, in both cases, both in southern Israel on 7 and 8 October and in Gaza subsequently, we found, and reasonably concluded on the basis of our investigations, that there were the most serious crimes under international law in relation to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed.

In our most report to the General Assembly, last month, October 2024, we looked at three issues. We looked first at the Israeli attacks on the healthcare care system in Gaza and came to the conclusion that the Israeli military forces had embarked upon a program of concerted intentional destruction of the healthcare care system in Gaza as a whole. And we made that conclusion on the basis of the evidence we gathered, the attacks, the comprehensive attacks on hospitals, health clinics and centers, other health care facilities, personnel working in hospitals and healthcare care, and ambulances. The conclusion we formed was that these attacks were concerted and intentional, and that they were designed to destroy the healthcare care system in Gaza.When the pastor neglects the inner life, it will eventually show itself in active ministry and begin to resemble Jeremiah’s description of evil shepherds, “who mislead and scatter the flock” and “have not cared for them” (Jer 23:1-2). In place of compassion and zeal, the pastor will languish as the head and consequently, the members will have no vigour, says Saint Gregory. Slowly, his preaching will not lift the mind and his admonition does not curb faults because his preoccupation with earthly matters stirred the dust of the earth and blinds him. Even the good works done will lose all merit for although they were done in the Master’s name, the false prophets will receive the solemn declaration, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers” (Mt 7:23; cf. Ps 6:9).

Jesus himself modelled this balance of inner life and ministry, for scripture notes many moments when Jesus prayed: at his baptism (Lk 3:21), withdrawal from the crowds (Lk 5:16), after healing the sick and possessed (Mk 1:35), before choosing the Twelve (Lk 6:12), and at the Transfiguration (Lk 9:29). One of these times, a disciple noticed Jesus at prayer and came up asking, “Teacher, teach us to pray” (Lk 11:1).The need to balance action with contemplation is for all, but especially for those charged with the care of others. I recall an episode during my seminary years in Rome that solidified the importance and beauty of prayer. It was the first time that I entered into Saint Peter’s basilica and gazed at Michelangelo’sPietà. I was struck by its beauty, especially the face of Mary. Instead of an expression of pain and agony, her face exudes tranquility, reflection and purity. Because of the distance and angle, I could not see the face of Jesus. Upon exiting the basilica, I stepped into the Libreria Ancora just outside the colonnades looking for a book on thePietà. With closeup pictures of thePietà, I was able to examine the beauty of the faces of Jesus and Mary; they are exquisite. I returned to the seminary and that evening, the rector delivered a conference on prayer retelling this story: One story told about Saint John Vianney, the pastor of Ars in France, is that he often saw a farmer sit in the back of the parish church. The saint took notice that the farmer would spend long periods of time there before the Eucharist. Finally one day, the saint asked him what he did during his time of adoration. The farmer simply responded, “I look at Him and He looks at me”.

*Abbot of St. Martin Abbey Lacey, WashingtonIn the wake of the attempted assassination of former US president Donald Trump, Archbishop Borys Gudziak – Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Philadelphia and Chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development – speaks with Vatican Radio about how Christians can respond to rising threats of political and ideological violence. By Christopher Wells