In response to attacks on hospital and parish in Gaza, Palestine, Pope raises his voice and expresses sorrow

For the third Sunday in a row, Pope Francis expressed his feelings about the situation in Palestine and Israel during a message at the end of the Marian Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.

At noon on Sunday, October 22, the Pope said:

“Once more my thoughts turn to what is happening in Israel and Palestine. I am very concerned, grieved. I pray and I am close to all those who are suffering:  the hostages, the wounded, the victims and their relatives. I think of the serious humanitarian situation in Gaza and I am saddened that the Anglican hospital and the Greek-Orthodox parish have also been hit in recent days. I renew my appeal for spaces to be opened, for humanitarian aid to continue to arrive, and for the hostages to be freed.”

Although the number of victims is not known with certainty following the destruction caused by a missile that hit a hospital in Gaza, it is known that 16 people died in the Gaza parish mentioned by the Pope, 10 from the same family.

The Pope also recalled that “War, any war that there is in the world – I also think of tormented Ukraine – is a defeat. War is always a defeat; it is a destruction of human fraternity. Brothers, stop! Stop!”.

Finally, Francis recalled that: “I remind you that next Friday, 27 October, I have proclaimed a day of fasting, prayer and penance, and that evening at 18.00 in Saint Peter’s Square we will spend an hour in prayer to implore peace in the world.”