People are sometimes confused the first time they hear the term “religious priest.” Aren’t all priests religious? In this context, the word “religious” refers to someone who belongs to a religious order, such as the Benedictines or Dominicans. Such priests are called “religious” to distinguish them from those incardinated in a diocese, who are referred to as diocesan or secular priests.
Watching a news report of a group of students chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” I wondered if they were even cognizant that their refrain, repeated so full-throatedly and relentlessly, was a call for genocide.