20.10.2025
Act of Solidarity – Taney Service of Prayer and Reflection for Gaza and the Middle East
“Our future must be built on respect for human dignity, for all peoples, all members of our shared global family.” So reads the message on behalf of President Michael D Higgins to the large congregation at an ecumenical service of prayer and reflection in solidarity with the people of Gaza and the Middle East which was held in Taney yesterday evening (Sunday October 19).
The service, organised in conjunction with Christian Aid, brought together a number of churches and traditions to stand together in prayer and hope. There were prayers for peace, hymns of hope and healing and there were contributions from the choir of Taney National School and the parish choir. The service drew towards a close with the Archbishop of Dublin reading a Prayer for the Holy Land written by Archbishop Hosam Naoum, the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem.
In his message to the service, which was read by the Rector, the Revd Nigel Pierpoint, President Higgins extended his warmest greetings to those who gathered in Taney. The message said he had been moved by the recent news of the ceasefire in Gaza and of the hostages being reunited with their families. He remained acutely aware of the immense challenges faced by the people in Gaza as they return to their homes and underlined the urgent need for humanitarian assistance.
The President expressed gratitude for the gathering describing it as “a profound act of solidarity and a moment that reminds us of our shared yearning for peace and for the restoration of what is most human”. The message continued: “By bringing together voices of different faiths to stand as one in grief, empathy, and hope, you are affirming the most vital of principals: that our future must be built on respect for human dignity, for all peoples, all members or our shared global family”.
Michael Briggs of Christian Aid gave a moving and thought provoking reflection based on Psalm 46 and the readings from Matthew [5: 1–12 and 25:31–46]. He said that the Psalm doesn’t deny chaos but sits in the middle of it saying ‘Be still, and know that I am God’.
“Over the last two years we have seen what is happening on the news and social media – cities broken, families starved, the silence of war and famine. We have watched and feel helpless. And something inside us burns. That burning – that’s anger. Anger is so important. We should not ignore our anger. We should not hide it,” he said. He noted that anger alone can lead to bitterness and despair but in our Christian story there is hope.
Christian Aid has been working in Gaza and the Middle East for 60 years and their partners are not outsiders but live there and face the same dangers as everyone else, he explained. “They live in the crisis and yet they deliver aid, they lift up their voices, they bring hope to others,” he said sharing the story of Weaam, a midwife who works with Christian Aid partner, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. She reported seeing pregnant women about to give birth weighing only 50kg. They are dizzy and weak for lack of food and can’t produce milk for their babies.
“That’s the reality on the ground and yet in the midst of it all there are people like Weaam still showing up, still serving, still loving their neighbours. That’s what faith looks like. That’s what hope looks like… We need both anger and hope – anger wakes us up, hope keeps us going. Together they can become faith – a faith that feels the ache of the world but still believes another world is possible. And maybe that’s what it means to be still and know God; to hold our fury in the one hand and hope in the other and trust that somehow love will rise again,” he said.
Before praying Archbishop Hosam’s prayer, Archbishop Michael Jackson described the Archbishop of Jerusalem’s work, alongside the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem. He said that the Diocese of Jerusalem encompasses Israel and Palestine as well as Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. “That whole vast territory which is now a cauldron of warfare and a turmoil of fear, anger and hope is part of what he cares for together with all his ecumenical partners, the way we care for them and the way we lit a flame for them here in Dundrum this evening,” he said. Next week, the Archbishop said, he will be in Jordan for the deferred Synod of the Diocese of Jerusalem and will bring greetings from the congregation and the order of service to show that people gathered and prayed for them.