Holy Week 2024: Faith, War, and the Cost of Witness in a Broken World
As Christians worldwide observe Holy Week—the solemn remembrance of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection—this year’s commemoration unfolds against a backdrop of global conflict, displacement, and suffering. From the ancient cities of Iran to the gang-ridden streets of South Africa, the themes of betrayal, endurance, and hope resonate with painful relevance.
Holy Week in the Shadow of War
In the Eastern Christian tradition, this period is known as Megale Hebdomas—the Great Week—marking the most pivotal events of the Christian faith. Yet in 2024, the sacred narrative is juxtaposed with the roar of bombs in Iran, where strikes have shaken the historic cities of Isfahan, Tehran, and Shiraz. These are lands steeped in poetry and mysticism, home to Rumi’s spiritual legacy and Hafiz’s lyrical wisdom.
The violence, however, does not target abstract regimes but real people—women who have defied oppression, youth slain in protests, and families forced into exile. Among them is Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani of Chelmsford, born in Isfahan and now a spiritual leader in the Anglican Church. Her family’s story is one of resilience: her brother was murdered, her parents survived an assassination attempt, and at 14, she fled Iran as a refugee. Today, the bombs falling on her homeland strike not at the regime that persecuted her family, but at the people she still calls her own.
The Ancient Christian Heartland in Crisis
Iran and Iraq—once the cradle of early Christianity—are now regions of violent upheaval. This is the land where the Magi journeyed, where Daniel prophesied, and where Aramaic-speaking Christians still preserve the language of Jesus. Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon, leads one of the oldest Christian communities on earth. Driven from Baghdad in 2023 after the Iraqi government revoked his legal recognition, he has since returned, embodying a faith that refuses to die despite persecution.
The ripple effects of Middle Eastern conflict reach far beyond its borders. Rising oil prices impact South African fuel costs, driving up transportation, food, and import expenses. But for those in Cape Flats and Gauteng’s gang-plagued neighborhoods, the toll is measured in fear—children calculating safe routes to school, families navigating streets controlled by warring factions. The deployment of 2,200 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops underscores a crisis beyond ordinary policing.
The Call to Witness in a World of Suffering
The Passion story speaks directly to human suffering. In Gethsemane, Jesus’ disciples fell asleep, unable to bear the weight of his anguish. Today, that sleep takes modern forms—scrolling past distressing news, avoiding difficult conversations, numbing ourselves to injustice. Good Friday challenges believers to wake up, to stand where love stands: in the midst of pain, whether in Isfahan, Baghdad, Rafah, or Manenberg.
The women who followed Jesus to Golgotha could not stop his crucifixion, but they refused to look away. They stood at the cross, witnessed his burial, and were the first to see the resurrection. Their tears, sown in sorrow, became seeds of hope.
Walking in Solidarity
This Holy Week, people of faith are called to more than reflection—they are invited to action. The 2026 Cape Town Pilgrimage for Palestine—a 42-kilometer walk mirroring the length of Gaza—will take place on Holy Saturday, April 4. Participants can join in full or in part, standing in solidarity with Palestinians displaced by war.
As theologian and writer Michael Weeder reminds us, “We are not yet at Easter. Today, we weep, and we walk.”
— Reported by Nexio News
