After the Angelus prayer, the Pope expressed his sadness at the “very serious” situation in the Holy Land, especially at the interruption of the ceasefire: “It means death, destruction, misery.” The Pope called for the parties involved to soon “find solutions other than weapons “find” and “take courageous paths to peace”. He then expressed his solidarity with the families of the victims of Sunday’s attack in the Philippines, in which a bomb exploded during a church service
Salvatore Cernuzio News from the Vatican
“Death, destruction, misery.” For the Pope, this means breaking the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and resuming fighting in which, according to authorities in the Gaza Strip, 700 Palestinian citizens were killed in 24 hours. After the recitation of the Angelus, which still took place in the Casa Santa Marta because of the contagious bronchitis that had struck him more than a week ago, the Pope although he himself did not read the call to the Marian prayer expressed his deep pain for the center kund East, where “the situation is serious”, combined with the hope of an immediate restoration of a ceasefire agreement.
It is sad that the ceasefire has been broken, it means death, destruction and misery.
The thought of hostages, the hope of a new agreement
Francisco turned his thoughts to the hostages still in the hands of Hamas after the dramatic October 7th. Many have been released, but many are still in Gaza. “Let us think of them and their families who saw a light and a hope for reunification with their loved ones,” the pope urged.
He then turned to Gaza, where, he stressed, “there is so much suffering, there is a lack of basic needs.” In addition to food and water, the equipment needed for military emergencies is also becoming increasingly scarce. A navy ship left Italy this Sunday for Egypt and had on board operating rooms and clinics to treat the injured. However, the situation is getting worse by the hour. The Pope then presented his appeal.
I hope that all parties involved can reach a new ceasefire agreement as soon as possible and find solutions other than weapons and try to take bold paths to peace.
Last Thursday, Israel agreed to extend the Gaza ceasefire for an eighth day. The aim was to release ten more hostages, mainly women and children. However, as the US, Egypt and Qatar met in Doha to reach agreement on a new extension, Israeli forces announced they had launched airstrikes against sites in Palestinian territory, without giving further details. Images from the panArab broadcaster “al Jazeera” show columns of gray smoke rising from populated areas of Gaza, accompanied by the sound of shelling and gunfire.
Close to the victims’ families in Mindanao
With the same concern, Francis assured his prayers for the victims of the attack that occurred this Sunday morning in the Philippines, in the state of Mindanao, in Marawi, an area in the south of the country, where a bomb exploded in a university gymnasium while a mass was being held. celebrated. The pope is close to the families of those killed four, including three women and the more than 40 injured, as well as the residents of Mindanao, a city that has been the scene of a battle in the past between government troops and militants allied to the Islamic state.
I get close to the families, the people of Mindanao, who have already suffered so much.