From a continent that has known apartheid, colonial violence, and ongoing war, ten African Catholic clergy — led by Cardinal Stephen Brislin of South Africa — have formally declared that Israel's conduct in Gaza constitutes genocide, grounding their judgment not in politics alone but in hard-won moral recognition. Their statement, issued through the Priests Against Genocide network, draws on international law, African philosophical tradition, and the lived memory of dehumanization to argue that silence, however comfortable, is its own form of complicity. The declaration arrives as South Africa
African Cardinal Joins Clergy in Declaring Israeli Actions in Gaza Genocide
Over 73,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 2023, including at least 21,000 children; over 1,200 killed since ceasefire began; forced displacement and humanitarian crisis affecting entire population.
To order people to flee when there is no safe place to flee to is not protection
Mark
Why does it matter that these particular voices—African clergy—are the ones making this declaration?
Mimi
Because they're speaking from lived experience of systematic dehumanization. South Africa lived apartheid for 46 years. When Brislin says he recognizes the patterns, he's not theorizing. He's naming something his country has already seen and survived.
Mark
But the Pope himself hasn't called it genocide. Doesn't that undercut them?
Mimi
It does create tension. Brislin is appointed by Leo, trusted enough to advise on major Vatican decisions. But he's also signing a statement that goes further than his own church's leadership. It suggests the pressure is coming from below, from people who've seen this before.
Mark
The statement condemns Hamas. Why include that?
Mimi
Because without it, they're vulnerable to being dismissed as one-sided. By naming Hamas's crimes clearly, they're saying: we're not choosing sides based on tribal loyalty. We're applying a principle—that killing civilians is wrong—consistently to everyone.
Mark
What's the practical effect of this declaration?
Mimi
It adds moral and legal weight to South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice. It pressures other Catholic institutions to examine their own positions. And it gives cover to other clergy who might want to speak but haven't yet.
Mark
The ceasefire has been in place since October, but they say over 1,200 Palestinians have died since then. How is that possible?
Mimi
The ceasefire isn't holding completely. Israeli strikes and gunfire have continued. It's a fragile agreement, and the killing hasn't stopped—which is why the clergy are calling for something more permanent, not just a pause.
Le Pouls
- Cardinal Brislin's signature represents a direct departure from Pope Leo's own position, which has called for peace but stopped short of naming genocide — placing a senior Vatican-appointed figure in open tension with Rome.
- The clergy condemned Hamas's October 7 attack and its 1,200 victims without equivocation, yet insisted those crimes cannot be used to justify collective punishment or erase Israel's obligations under international law.
- Over 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, including more than 21,000 children, and strikes have continued to claim lives even after a ceasefire took effect — lending the statement's language an urgency grounded in accumulating loss.
- The declaration calls on Israel to end forced displacement and cooperate with international courts, on Christian organizations to audit their investments, and on African governments to apply the same standards of justice to conflicts on their own continent.
- Israel has not responded to the statement and continues to deny genocide allegations, maintaining its military campaign targets Hamas rather than the Palestinian population as a whole.
From a continent that has known apartheid, colonial violence, and ongoing war, ten African Catholic clergy — led by Cardinal Stephen Brislin of South Africa — have formally declared that Israel's conduct in Gaza constitutes genocide, grounding their judgment not in politics alone but in hard-won moral recognition. Their statement, issued through the Priests Against Genocide network, draws on international law, African philosophical tradition, and the lived memory of dehumanization to argue that silence, however comfortable, is its own form of complicity. The declaration arrives as South Africa's genocide case against Israel remains pending before the International Court of Justice, and as the death toll in Gaza surpasses 73,000 — including at least 21,000 children — since October 2023.
On Friday, ten Catholic clergy from across Africa, led by Cardinal Stephen Brislin — Archbishop of Johannesburg and a senior Vatican appointee — released a formal statement declaring that Israeli government actions in Gaza constitute genocide. The declaration draws its moral authority from a specific and painful source: these are religious leaders whose continent has endured apartheid, colonial violence, and wars that continue today. "Having learned to recognise dehumanisation in our own history," the statement read, "we cannot refuse to recognise it in another people."
The statement was issued through Priests Against Genocide, a network founded in 2025 with more than 2,500 members across 67 countries. The clergy acknowledged the gravity of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack — roughly 1,200 killed in Israel, some 250 taken hostage — but were unequivocal that those crimes do not suspend Israel's obligations under international law or justify collective punishment. The declaration rejected both antisemitism and Islamophobia, framing the question as one of law and human dignity.
Brislin's signature carries particular institutional weight because Pope Leo, while calling for peace and a two-state solution, has not used the word genocide to describe Israeli conduct — placing a Vatican-appointed cardinal in visible tension with Rome's own position. South Africa, which lived under apartheid from 1948 to 1994, has long championed Palestinian rights, and in December 2023 brought a case before the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention. That case remains unresolved.
The human toll is the statement's constant backdrop. More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, including at least 21,000 children. A ceasefire took effect last October, but Israeli strikes have continued, killing more than 1,200 Palestinians since the agreement began. The clergy gave particular attention to the logic of displacement: "To order people to flee when there is no safe place to flee to is not protection" — describing a population moved repeatedly within a closed territory, from one unsafe location to another.
The statement called on Israel to end forced displacement and cooperate with international courts, urged Christian organizations to examine their investments for ties to human rights violations, and demanded humanitarian and trauma-healing support for those harmed. The clergy also turned the lens on Africa itself, issuing the same demands for peace and accountability to governments managing conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Sahel, and northern Mozambique. Rooted in the Ubuntu tradition of shared human responsibility, the statement closed with a refusal of silence: "Our answer must be truth, justice, mercy — and a true peace which is never merely the absence of fighting." Israel has not responded.
On Friday, ten Catholic clergy from across Africa, led by Cardinal Stephen Brislin of South Africa, released a formal statement declaring that the Israeli government's actions in Gaza constitute genocide. The declaration carries particular weight because it comes from religious leaders whose own continent has endured systematic dehumanization—apartheid, colonial violence, ongoing wars. "Having learned to recognise dehumanisation in our own history, we cannot refuse to recognise it in another people," the statement read, drawing explicitly on arguments made by international legal scholars and genocide experts.
Brislin, the Archbishop of Johannesburg, was appointed last year by Pope Leo to a senior Vatican department overseeing clergy and given a prominent advisory role at the June consistory. His signature on the statement represents a significant break from the Vatican's own position. Pope Leo has called for peace and a two-state solution but has stopped short of using the word genocide to describe Israeli conduct in Gaza.
The statement came from Priests Against Genocide, a network founded in 2025 that now claims over 2,500 members across 67 countries. The clergy acknowledged the gravity of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, which killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel and led to the abduction of about 250 hostages. But they were unequivocal about what followed: "Their crimes do not diminish Israel's obligations under international law, nor justify genocide or collective punishment." The statement rejected both antisemitism and Islamophobia, framing the issue as one of law and human dignity rather than religious conflict.
South Africa, which lived under apartheid from 1948 to 1994, has long positioned itself as a voice for Palestinian rights. Nelson Mandela declared in 1997 that "our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians." In December 2023, South Africa brought a case before the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention, arguing that Israel's conduct unfolded against a background of institutionalized discrimination. That case remains pending.
The human toll shapes everything in this statement. Since the October 2023 attack, more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza according to the territory's Health Ministry, including at least 21,000 children. A ceasefire took effect in October of last year, but Israeli strikes and gunfire have continued, killing more than 1,200 Palestinians since the agreement began. The clergy drew particular attention to the trap of displacement: "To order people to flee when there is no safe place to flee to is not protection." For most of Gaza's population, they wrote, there has been no reliable route to safety—only repeated movement within a closed territory from one unsafe location to another.
The statement called on Israel to end what it termed "genocidal policies" and forced displacement, to cooperate with international judicial systems, and to suspend weapons and technologies that risk violating international law. It asked Christian organizations to scrutinize their investments for ties to human rights violations. And it demanded humanitarian, medical, and trauma-healing support for those harmed in the conflict, along with the creation of a dignified and safe future for both Palestinians and Israelis.
The African clergy also turned the lens inward, acknowledging that their continent knows war not only in its past but through ongoing conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Sahel, and northern Mozambique. They issued the same demands for peace and justice to African governments. The statement drew from the African philosophical tradition of Ubuntu—which emphasizes interconnectedness and shared responsibility—as well as Scripture and Vatican teaching to make its case. "Our answer cannot be silence," the clergy wrote. "Our answer must be truth, justice, mercy — and a true peace which is never merely the absence of fighting." Israel has not responded to the statement and has denied past genocide allegations, maintaining that its war is against Hamas, not Palestinians.
Citations marquantes
Having learned to recognise dehumanisation in our own history, we cannot refuse to recognise it in another people.— Statement from the ten African clergy
Their crimes do not diminish Israel's obligations under international law, nor justify genocide or collective punishment.— Statement from the ten African clergy, on Hamas's October 7 attack
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War & Conflict