Armagh: Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt service at cathedral.

Protesters disrupted a service at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh on Sunday to “highlight the silence of the Catholic Church on the genocide in Palestine”.

In a live stream of the service shared on parish social media, about 30 protesters can be seen entering the cathedral holding placards.

Speaking in a video posted online, one protester, Deirdre Murphy-Linder, said they were a “group of cross-community Christians” who staged “a dignified silent procession at the end of communion”.

After the protest, the priest who conducted the service accused the protesters of using the mass for a photo opportunity.

Addressing his congregation shortly after the protest, Father Barry Matthews said the church “is not a political organization, but we are an organization that trusts in God’s plan and trusts in God’s existence”.

Father Matthews noted the donations that church members have made “to take care of the children in Gaza.”

“We have given £5,000 pounds from your donation here as a parish community.”

“We don’t use mass as a quick snapshot opportunity,” he said.

“Let us not use the church as a place for political expression.”

Father Matthews received a round of applause from his congregation after his statement.

Ms Murphy Linder said the protesters “wanted to know why the churches, the Christian churches, are silent”.

He added that when the Russians invaded Ukraine, they were very vocal and rightly condemned very harshly.

He said Christian church leaders were “betraying the faith of billions” by not speaking out more forcefully on the situation in Gaza.

“We’ve been waiting 14 months, seeing horrific images and genocide.”

Israel has vehemently denied that its forces are committing genocide in Gaza.

A special committee of the United Nations General Assembly in November A new report has been released It said Israel’s methods of warfare in Gaza “are consistent with the characteristics of genocide, mass civilian casualties and the deliberately lethal conditions imposed on Palestinians there”.

Human Rights Watch has also accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to the United Nations, some 1.9 million people – 90% of Gaza’s population – have fled their homes over the past year, and 79% of the territory is under evacuation orders issued by Israel.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas with an unprecedented response Attack on Southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 44,000 people have since been killed in Gaza.According to the Ministry of Health of the Hamas-controlled area.