Friars continue study and prayer in Jerusalem throughout U.S.-Israel strike on Iran: February 28, 2026

But as Christians, our side is the side of humanity, especially of the weakest. This is the social doctrine of the church.” While the École is an academic institution, open to all with a French background, [the friars] don’t want to take side on the political debate, but on the humanitarian and anthropological one.

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Friars continue study and prayer in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM — As the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran early Saturday, the Dominican friars of the École Biblique et Archéologique Française in Jerusalem received a government alert during morning prayer directing them to take shelter.

“So to make it short, to make short a long story, this morning we received an alert just getting out of the morning prayer,” said fr. Olivier Poquillon, OP, director of the École Biblique. “So here you have on your cell phone a system, the government is asking you to go to the shelter. So we went to the shelter all together.”

The alert followed what fr. Olivier described as “a preventive attack on Iran with the help of the US,” launched by the State of Israel amid fears of retaliation.

The École, located in East Jerusalem, houses approximately 50 people, including friars, Polish sisters, students and researchers from multiple countries. “It’s a big house with different backgrounds,” he said. Despite the escalation, the community continued its academic work. “We went down and we continued to study because here people are coming to study, to study the Bible.”

The escalation marks another chapter in what fr. Olivier called “the third year of this war,” following the October 7 attacks and the broader regional conflict. The École had recently resumed normal activity, hosting researchers and a canonical visitation by the Master of the Order.

Founded in the 19th century, the École has operated under multiple political authorities. “Our mission here in Jerusalem started in the 19th century. So it is the fourth government we are under,” he said. “We started under the Ottomans, then we had the British, then we had the Jordanians, and now we’ve got the state of Israel, but we are in East Jerusalem, meaning that according to international law, it is a Palestinian territory. So it’s a complex situation, like everything in the Middle East.”

‘Our side is the side of humanity’

Fr. Olivier emphasized that the community does not take political sides. “Often we are requested to take side by the different actors,” he said. “But as Christians, our side is the side of humanity, especially of the weakest. This is the social doctrine of the church.” While the École is “an academic institution, open to all with a French background,” he said, “we don’t want to take side on the political debate, but on the humanitarian and anthropological one.”

After three years of conflict, he acknowledged fatigue among the population. “Yes, it is a third year for us, so people are getting tired of it,” he said. “I guess many people would like the violence to end, but those people are not those in power, those who are deciding.”

The École’s response, he said, remains consistent with Dominican tradition. “Our mission in a world that is very much into emotions is to bring back reason,” he said. “This is very much the Dominican tradition… We are trying to continue to study the Bible, not to be an instrument of war, but to be a tool for peace.”

Study to build peace

He described the École’s library — which holds 460,000 volumes — as both a research center and, practically, a shelter. “I’m encouraging the students and the brothers to study in the library because the library is underground. So it’s a shelter in itself,” he said. “You are protected by the walls, by the earth, the earth of the Holy Land and by tons of books.”

The work of the École, he said, involves “confronting the text and the context. The text meaning the word that is incarnated into a place in a history.” He added that Jerusalem itself is a place marked by conflict: “He chose to incarnate himself… in this very place, not because it was pure and beautiful, but because it was in a way messy, because it was in the heart of a conflict.”

Regarding security, fr. Olivier said, “I don’t consider that the physical risk here at the Ecole is very high. We are taking all the necessary measures. We are following the advices given by the Israeli and consular authorities of all the countries we are related with.” He added, “Resilience could be a motto for the Ecole.”

Hope for the future

Hope, however, is difficult to measure in external terms. “If you look outside, the hope is quite limited,” he said. He noted that the École is responsible for major archaeological excavations in Gaza, where violence continues. “We are here a few kilometres from people who are deeply suffering,” he said, referring also to Christian communities in the West Bank.

“We don’t believe that violence can be defeated by violence,” he said. “We really believe that the enemy is the devil. The enemy is inside. It’s not outside of us.”

The community gathered for Mass in the shelter later in the day. “We decided to move the altar in the shelter and we did celebrate mass,” he said. Using a votive Mass “for the time of war,” they prayed “asking for peace and reconciliation.”

“Peace and reconciliation are starting inside, and it has to be a personal commitment before becoming a community one,” he said.

Stand with the École

Fr. Olivier asked for solidarity in prayer. “First of all, we really need your prayers, not your prayers for a small club of good guys. We are not better than the others,” he said. “But what we need is really to have a chain of prayer for the peace in the region.”

He also noted that supporters may contribute financially through the École’s website, ebaf.edu.

“Building communion inside the house in the Dominican community, also in the academic community with the believers, non-believers… and outside with Jews, Christians, Muslims,” he said, remains central to their mission. “We’ve got a common origin and a shared responsibility.”

As the region faces renewed violence following U.S.-Israeli strikes and Iranian retaliation, the École Biblique continues its academic and communal life — studying, praying, and maintaining what its director described as resilience amid uncertainty.

On the friar, you can listen to our homilies (based on the readings of the day) and reflections. You can also ask us to pray for you or to pray for others. You can subscribe to our website to be informed whenever we publish an update.