Pope Francis
“May the international community make every effort to stop this terrible escalation. It is unacceptable.”
“I think of the mothers who have lost sons to war, how many young lives have been cut short,” the pontiff said.
Archbishop Justin Welby should know that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel before anyone heard of Britain, Rabbi Warren Goldstein said.
Pope Francis wrote a letter on the occasion of 80 years since the head of the church called on the Virgin Mary to save the Vatican from the Nazis.
Pope Francis on Monday met with several families whose loved ones have been held hostage since Oct. 7.
In his Easter message, the pontiff also called for additional humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The Holy See’s top diplomat described Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza as a “carnage” to reporters.
"[The Church] rejects every form of anti-Judaism and antisemitism as a sin against God.”
Francis lamented the deaths of innocents around the world, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
Francis has accused both Israel and Hamas of terrorism.
Since Oct. 7, the Catholic Church has often blamed the Jewish state for being attacked in the bloodiest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
The Israelis asked the pontiff to issue a clear call for the release of all the roughly 240 people held by Hamas.
