Pope Leo XIV condemned this Thursday’s attack on the Church of the Sagrada Familia, perpetrated by an Israeli tank in which 3 people died and in which the pastor was also injured, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli.
“They continue to arrive, also these days, dramatic news from the Middle East, particularly from Gaza,” the Pope began, visibly moved.
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“I pray for the victims,” he said below before calling the three deceased by name: the maintenance manager of the enclosure and two old women who at the time of the attack were being treated by Cáritas.
“Such an act, unfortunately, adds to the continuous military attacks against the civilian population and the places of worship in Gaza,” he lamented.
The pontiff raised a plea for peace in the Holy Land: “I ask again to immediately stop the barbarism of the war and that a peaceful resolution of the conflict is reached.”
In a direct call to the international community, Leo XIV requested that “international humanitarian law” be fulfilled and, therefore, “the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, of indiscriminate use of strength and forced displacement of the population.”
The Pontiff went to the heart of the Christians of the Middle East and showed their proximity to “the feeling of helplessness for this dramatic situation.” “You are in the heart of the Pope and the whole Church. Thank you for your testimony of faith,” he said.
Shortly before, after celebrating the Mass this morning in the Cathedral of San Pancracio Mártir, in Albano Laziale, about 2 kilometers from Castel Gandolfo, where a few days of rest is elapsed, Pope Leo XIV was briefly stopped with a group of journalists to whom he made an urgent call in favor of peace and dialogue.
“We must dialogue and leave the weapons,” said the pontiff. “The world does not support war anymore,” he added firmly, underlining the need to recover confidence: “We must pray and have confidence in God.”
The brief conversation was recorded by the cameras of Italian public television Rai that broadcast it live. Leo XIV reiterated the position of the Holy See that claims the route of dialogue and highlighted the urgency of safeguarding religious spaces. “We have insisted on the need to protect sacred places,” he said. “And work together in this regard, to leave so much violence and so much hate,” he said.
Victoria Cardiel
Victoria Cardiel is a journalist specialized in social and religious information issues. Since 2013, he has covered all the news of the Vatican for various media, such as the Spanish news agency Europa Press, or the weekly of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Alfa and Omega.