Pope Leo XIV on Sunday prayed by name for the victims of a deadly Israeli strike on the only Catholic parish in Gaza, decrying the “barbarism of the war” as he renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire.
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“I express my profound sadness regarding last Thursday’s attack by the Israeli army on the Catholic Parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City, which as you know killed three Christians and gravely wounded others,” the pope said in his Angelus address from the papal estate at Castel Gandolfo, about 16 miles southeast of Rome.
He named the dead — Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, and Najwa Ibrahim Latif Abu Daoud — and said, “I am especially close to their families and all the parishioners.”
The July 17 strike on the parish compound also wounded nine others, including the local parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli. The church had been serving as a shelter for more than 600 people since the conflict began in October 2023, including Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Muslims.
“Sadly, this act adds to the continuous military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,” Leo said. “I again call for an immediate halt to the barbarism of the war and for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.”
“I renew my appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and to respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force and the forced displacement of the population.”
Thursday’s attack drew swift condemnation from Church leaders. On the same day, Pope Leo sent a telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin lamenting the loss of life and injuries caused by the military attack and calling for an immediate ceasefire. The following day, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III entered Gaza to offer spiritual, moral, and material comfort.
According to Caritas Jerusalem, two of the victims were outside the main parish building — which had been repurposed into a shelter — when the explosion occurred. Salameh, 60, the parish caretaker, was in the courtyard, and Ayyad, 84, was sitting inside a Caritas psychosocial support tent when shrapnel and falling debris struck them. Both later died at Al-Mamadani Hospital due to what Caritas called a “severe shortage of medical resources and blood units in Gaza.”
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged responsibility, stating that “fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly.”
Pope Leo XIV also spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the strike, urging the reactivation of peace negotiations. He reiterated his concern for the humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza, “whose heartbreaking price is being paid, in particular, by children, the elderly, and the sick,” a statement from the Vatican said.
After praying for the Gaza victims during his Angelus address, Pope Leo XIV offered a message of solidarity to all Christians in the region.
“To our beloved Middle Eastern Christians, I say: I deeply sympathize with your feeling that you can do little in the face of this grave situation,” he said. “You are in the heart of the pope and of the whole Church. Thank you for your witness of faith.”
He entrusted them to the Virgin Mary, “woman of the Levant, dawn of the new Sun that has risen in history,” and prayed that she “protect you always and accompany the world towards dawns of peace.”
Sunday marked the second time Pope Leo has led the Angelus prayer from Castel Gandolfo during his two-week summer retreat. Earlier in the day, the pope offered a Mass for local Catholics in the nearby Cathedral Basilica of Saint Pancras in Albano.
He ended his Angelus address by greeting pilgrims in the courtyard, including students and staff from the nearby Catholic Institute of Technology and a group of Catholic scouts on a Jubilee pilgrimage destined for the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis, whom Pope Leo is expected to canonize in September as the first millennial Catholic saint.
The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV will return to Vatican City on Tuesday.
This article was originally published by CNA.
