TOLEDO, Ohio —
Despite being thousands of miles away from the Middle East, students at St. John's Jesuit High School and Academy spent the day praying for peace, as war wages on in the region.
"I feel terrible. I feel like I wish I could do more, but unfortunately, I can't really do much," said senior Victor Vasquez.
Instead of just watching the conflict unfold through a screen, theology teacher Phillipp Levering said his students came up with an idea.
One year after the fighting first broke out, students held a "Day of Peace" to remember the thousands of Palestinian, Israeli and now Lebanese lives that have been lost since.
"They have a deep, deep faith in Islam, a deep, deep faith in Judaism, and they're the ones that brought it to us," Levering said. "Their voice about their concerns are mostly about how they want to represent their relationship with God and the people who are hurting."
After a short service, which featured Christian, Jewish and Islamic prayers, students were invited to light candles and clip "peace pins" on a map to represent where students want to see more peace in the world.
"We honestly have a lot of students who have families in these regions of conflict," Levering said. "Because of that, there is an added charge and responsibility from teachers to give them a space to talk through it."
Despite how hard it is for students to have these conversations on campus, senior Isaac Guerrero said it's moments like this that bring the community together.
"I feel like sometimes when we're not super close or involved with the war, we can kind of forget about it and go on with our daily lives and it's important to remember that and keep them in our prayers," he said.