Letter from the Rt. Rev. Matthew Heyd dated April 29, 2024
Pain from the Israel-Gaza War ripples through all our communities.
In March, Bishop Shin, Bishop Glasspool, and I wrote to the Diocese deploring the October 7 attacks and hostage-taking by Hamas along with the devastation of Gaza by Israeli Defense Forces. We joined the call for a ceasefire and for open access to humanitarian aid.
- The situation has worsened over the last two months. Gaza is now in famine. Hostages haven’t been released. Anti-Semitic and anti-Palestinian attacks in New York continue to grow. The war continues to widen.
The war has provoked deep emotions from all sides and there is no shared view about the war.
But we can be clear. The terrorism and hostage-taking of October 7 was wrong. The catastrophe of the ongoing onslaught in Gaza is wrong.
The moral solid ground is this: We are created in the image of God and seek and serve Jesus Christ in all people.
As Christians we are committed to the sacred dignity of every person— local and global, of all backgrounds, beliefs, and points of view.
Living this commitment begins with offering safety.
Students and other members of the Columbia University community have felt unsafe since the October 7 Hamas attacks and the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war. This situation escalated significantly with the NYPD arrest of protesters.
Our Cathedral will now offer safe and open space for groups from Columbia University as the conflict on campus continues.
I’ve included the Cathedral statement below.
- The Rev. Dr. Ryan Kuratko serves as the Episcopal chaplain at Columbia and has been a pastor and support to students throughout the conflict. The Rev. Megan Sanders has done the same at colleges in lower Manhattan.
- Dean Pat Malloy has worked with Cathedral clergy and senior leadership to make this safe space possible for Columbia. I’m grateful for their leadership with Columbia, and Ryan’s, and I’m glad they are acting.
Our congregations, chaplaincies, and schools across the Diocese are responding to the war in their own neighborhoods. The Holy Spirit moves at the ground level and it’s at ground level that our work for justice begins.
We are committed to support engagement in communities across our Diocese so that we can have safe space to talk together with our partners across our differences. It’s hard to know if we can affect the war; we know that we can make a difference in our institutions and our neighborhoods.
That’s been the tradition over the life of our Cathedral. We believe it’s our call right now.
Cathedral of St John the Divine statement:
Columbia University is the Cathedral’s neighbor. The University was founded by the Episcopal Church, and the Diocese of New York continues to sponsor an Episcopal chaplain. Since the horrific October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and the devastation of Gaza that has followed, we have watched fear and outrage build on campus. Recent police action and arrests have significantly inflamed both.
People of good will have differing, and even conflicting, views of what an ethical response to the war should be, and that includes those of us at the Cathedral. We, too, are of divided mind and heart. About this we are united: as Christians, we vow to uphold the dignity of every person and to work for justice and peace. There cannot be any progress without safety. Churches have always been places of sanctuary — of holy safety — and that is what we want the Cathedral to be in these painful times.
We have been receiving space usage requests from the University community. Any Columbia/Barnard event that the Cathedral agrees to host must be open to all members of the Columbia/Barnard community, including students who have been suspended, expelled, or arrested as a result of the protests, and all members of the administration and faculty.
