Pope Leo XIV calls for “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza
Express newspaper
18/07/2025 9:17
Pope Leo XIV has repeated his call for “an immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip and expressed his “deep hope” for “dialogue, reconciliation and lasting peace in the region”, following an Israeli attack on a Catholic church sheltering civilians.
The appeal came in a telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin after the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza was hit during an Israeli military attack.
The Pope said he was “deeply saddened” by the attack on the parish, which has provided shelter to more than 500 people since the start of the war.
Among the injured was the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, who suffered a minor leg wound and was treated at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.
The Pope addressed Father Romanelli directly in the telegram, assuring him of his “spiritual closeness” and offering prayers to the entire parish community.
“Entrusting the souls of the departed to the loving mercy of Almighty God,” the Pope said he is praying for “the consolation of those who mourn and the healing of the wounded.”
During its deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military has bombed several places of worship, including the Gaza Baptist Church and the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyry, the oldest in the Gaza Strip and the third oldest in the world.
The Church of the Holy Family is the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, which has housed many displaced Christian and Muslim Palestinians since October 2023.
Refusing international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli military has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing at least 58.600 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide lawsuit at the International Court of Justice over the war in the Palestinian enclave.