Pope Francis renews his call to prayer for those suffering from the wars in Ukraine and the Holy Land, saying: “This is not a war; This is terrorism.”
By Francesca Merlo
“This is not a war; This is terrorism.” With these words Pope Francis described the Israel-Hamas war that is devastating the Holy Land.
In his address to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Wednesday general audience, the pope turned his thoughts to those suffering in Palestine and Israel.
In his appeal, he prayed for all those suffering from various wars, especially in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine.
The Holy Father recalled his meeting that same morning, November 22, with two delegations: one of Israelis whose relatives were held hostage in Gaza and another of families of Palestinians suffering in Gaza.
The Pope first met with the twelve members of the Israeli delegation at his residence in Casa Santa Marta at 7:30 a.m. He then met with the Palestinian delegation at around 8:00 a.m. in a room in the Paul VI Hall. The Palestinian delegation consisted of ten people with relatives in Gaza, including Christians and Muslims. They were accompanied by Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza and Greek Orthodox priest.
In both meetings, Pope Francis expressed his sadness and his closeness to pain.
“They are suffering so much. I heard how they both suffer,” the pope said afterwards at the general audience, adding: “Wars do that.”
“But here we have gone beyond wars,” the Pope emphasized. “This is not a war; This is terrorism.”
Dialogue instead of passions
The Pope invited everyone “to pray for peace; always pray for peace.”
The Holy Father then prayed that the Lord would “help us to solve the problems and not to be driven by passions that ultimately kill everyone.”
“Let us pray for the Palestinian people; Let us pray for the people of Israel so that peace may come,” the Pope concluded.
The director of the Holy See press office, Matteo Bruni, announced on Friday that Pope Francis would meet with the delegations, stressing that the meetings would be “exclusively humanitarian in nature” and aimed at “expanding Pope Francis’ spiritual closeness to those who suffer.” to demonstrate to each individual”.