Pope Leo demands end to Gaza ‘barbarity’ after Israeli strike on Catholic church
The church was watched closely at the end Pope Francis, who spoke daily with his parish priest and once offered his children.
In a rare and risky visit to Gaza – largely sealed by foreign officials – Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and Theophile III, the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, led a delegation to the territory on Friday to show their support.
Video sequences have captured their arrival at the church, welcomed by cheers and bells ringing.
“On behalf of all the Christians on our earth, all the churches around the world are united with us right now,” said Pizzaballa, who also led Sunday morning mass to the church.
President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the strike.
The White House spokesman Tammy Bruce said that it was an understatement to say that Trump was not satisfied with Netanyahu during the call, adding that the United States had asked Israel to investigate the strike and “make sure that all civilians, including Christian civilians, remain safe”.
“Everyone is dismayed,” she said.
Friday, Stauunch Trump Ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA., Presented an invoice to withdraw $ 500 million in American military funding in Israel, a measure which was extremely rejected but marked a rare reprimand.
Netanyahu said that Israel “deeply regrets that a wandering ammunition struck the Church of the Sainte-Famille de Gaza” and called Pope Leo on Friday evening.
Israeli defense forces said it was examining the incident. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the investigation results are published.
Bruce described the Prime Minister’s response “an appropriate start” and reiterated the framing by Israel as an accident by Israel.
But the admissions of regret did not satisfy the Catholic community in mourning, which amplified its calls to a cease-fire.
The Jerusalem branch of the Vatican Caritas Federation has appointed two of the dead under the name of Saad Salameh, 60, the church concierge, and Fumayya Ayyad, 84, who had sat in a caritas psychosocial support tent when the explosion experienced bursts of shells and debris. The pope appointed the other as Najwa Ibrahim Latif Abu Daoud.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the American Catholic Bishops conference, called for peace and an “immediate ceasefire” following the strike, echoing Pope Leo and renewing calls so often made under François.
“With the Holy Father, the Catholic bishops of the United States are deeply saddened to find out about the dead and injuries to the Holy Family church in Gaza caused by a military strike,” said Broglio in a statement. “That there is peace in Gaza.”
Pax Christi International, a Christian Peace Organization, condemned the strike and called for “an immediate and permanent cease-fire”.
However, although these calls may have intensified as a result of the attack, there were few signs one this weekend.
Since Pizzaballa arrived at the Church of the Sainte-Famille on Friday, more than 150 people had been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities.
On Sunday, the Israeli army issued evacuation orders which suggested that its offensive on the ground could be on the verge of stretching in new areas at the heart of the enclave, while the United Nations said that civilians were hungry and had an urgent need for help.
Pizzaballa, closer to carnage than most foreigners have not succeeded since the start of the current conflict, again called for peace.
“The churches of the whole world, in particular the Church in the Holy Land, the Greek Orthodox and all the churches, will never abandon you and will never neglect you,” he said, addressing the Church.
“We are working in the diplomatic world for a cease-fire to arrest this war, this tragedy,” he said.
