Democracy Now

Hegseth’s “theology of war, of violence”

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As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Easter Sunday, we go to Palestine to speak to Reverend Munther Isaac, pastor of the Lutheran Church in Ramallah and director of the Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice, located in the city of Jesus Christ’s birth. This year’s Easter preparations come against the backdrop of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, which many Christian nationalists in the U.S., including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, are framing in extremist religious terms. Reverend Isaac calls the Christian Zionism espoused by Hegseth and others “a theology of war, of violence” and highlights the efforts of Pope Leo XIV, the U.S.-born head of the Catholic Church who has come out stridently against both the war and Hegseth’s rhetoric, to promote peace in the region.

Isaac also comments on Israeli authorities’ recent attempt to prevent the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday due to Israel’s ban on gatherings at religious sites during the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly granted access to the church following global backlash. But, “do we really need permission from an occupying authority?” asks Isaac. “Israel does not have sovereignty over, should not have sovereignty over Jerusalem. … We have been worshiping here for centuries, uninterrupted.”

Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.

Israel’s Assault on Journalism: The Killing of Anas al-Sharif

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The killing of al-Sharif and his colleagues is “really murder,” says Irene Khan, U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression. “It is not killing in the context of war. It is a deliberate strategy to stop independent voices reporting.”

Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe

Pope Francis Dies at 88

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Pope Francis

Pope Francis has died at the age of 88. The Argentinian-born Jesuit had led the Catholic Church since 2013 when he made history by becoming the first pope from Latin America. He made his last public appearance on Easter Sunday when he repeated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying the situation was “dramatic and deplorable.” In November 2023, Pope Francis accused Israel of committing terrorism after Israel attacked a church in Gaza.

Pope Francis: “A mother and her daughter, Ms. Nahida Khalil Anton and her daughter Samar Kamal Anton, were killed, and others wounded, by the snipers as they went to the bathroom. The house of Mother Teresa’s nuns was damaged, their generator hit. Some say it’s terrorism. It’s war. Yes, it’s war. It’s terrorism. That is why Scripture says that God stops war, breaks bows and breaks spears. Let us pray to the Lord for peace.”

Pope Francis was also a vocal champion for the poor and marginalized and often spoke out about the climate crisis and against the death penalty.
On Thursday, the pope traveled to a prison in Rome to meet with dozens of prisoners as part of a Holy Thursday ritual. The mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, said today, “Rome, Italy and the world are mourning an extraordinary man, a humble and courageous pastor who knew how to speak to everyone’s heart.”

On Sunday, Pope Francis briefly met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance. In February, before he was hospitalized, the pope openly criticized the Trump administration’s attacks on migrants. The pope wrote, “The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.” We will have more on Pope Francis later in the program.