The Vatican’s top diplomat sharply criticized Israel’s “ongoing massacre” in Gaza in comments published on Monday — one of the Catholic Church’s strongest condemnations of Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group.

In an interview tied to the second anniversary of Hamas’s massacre on southern communities on October 7, 2023, Cardinal Pietro Parolin also called the onslaught “inhuman and indefensible” and urged Hamas to free remaining hostages.

“Those who are attacked have a right to defend themselves, but even legitimate defense must respect the principle of proportionality,” said Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state and one of Pope Leo’s top deputies.

“The war waged by the Israeli army to eliminate Hamas militants disregards the fact that it is targeting a largely defenseless population, already pushed to the brink, in an area where buildings and homes are reduced to rubble,” he said.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

“It is … clear that the international community is, unfortunately, powerless and that the countries truly capable of exerting influence have so far failed to act to stop the ongoing massacre,” Parolin told the Vatican’s media outlet.

A man carries a jerrycan as he walks past tents sheltering people displaced by war pitched near the heavily-damaged Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani mosque at the Qatari-built Hamad City residential complex, in northwestern Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 6, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The Vatican, which has embassies in many capitals, normally uses guarded language in addressing conflicts, preferring to avoid press coverage and operate behind the scenes.

But Leo, elected in May after the death of Pope Francis, has been stepping up criticism of Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

He has urged Israel to let in more aid and raised the issue of Gaza in a meeting with President Isaac Herzog in September.

Parolin added, “It’s not enough to say that what is happening is unacceptable and then continue to allow it to happen.

“We must seriously ask ourselves about the legitimacy … of continuing to supply weapons that are being used against civilians.” He did not name any countries.

Latin patriarch: Christians should be a bridge between Israelis, Palestinians

While Parolin took a combinative stance, the top Catholic leader in the Holy Land called on Christians in the region to be a bridge and help restore trust between Israelis and Palestinians.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem,  said Christians — who make up just 1% of the population in the birthplace of Christianity — are of “no threat” to any side of the conflict and therefore are uniquely positioned to help everyone work toward a shared and peaceful postwar future. Though he has no illusions that it will be easy.

“In this moment, you have to be very honest, very candid — the respective communities are not ready for this,” he told The Associated Press in his reception hall in Jerusalem’s Old City. “The wounds are there, very painful. The suffering, the misunderstandings. So, what we have to do is to start from this very sad reality and rebuild.”

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa (L) and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on July 22, 2025. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Amid the ceasefire talks in Egypt, Pizzaballa said that cautious hope was spreading among the faithful at the one Catholic church in Gaza.

The Holy Family Church was struck by an Israeli shell in July but has continued ministering to its community and those seeking shelter in it. Israel has said the deadly strike was caused by a misfired munition.

“People keep dying every day out there. But at least in the air you feel something different, you hope that maybe this is going to finish,” said Pizzaballa.

As for Jewish and Muslim communities, the war’s devastating toll has fractured society at all levels, Pizzaballa said.

“This war made all the different issues — political, religious, economic, cultural — explode,” he said. “Now we have to rethink everything anew.”

Pizzaballa said that the Catholic Church wants to find “a new direction” in relations with the Jewish people and the state of Israel, with which the Holy See established diplomatic relations just over three decades ago.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, blesses young altar servers during Sunday morning mass at the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City on July 20, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

“As Catholics, we need also to understand that for the Jewish people, the state of Israel is not just one state among the others. It’s an important reference point,” he said.

Pizzaballa said he finds the biggest reasons for hope in how some ordinary people — Christians, Jews, and Muslims, even in Gaza — haven’t given up, even as many of their fellow believers are “full of contempt” for each other.

“It tells me that the life, the humanity is still alive,” he said.

War erupted when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern communities on October 7, 2023, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 67,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed over 22,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 471. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.