Sun 20 July 2025:

Pope Leo called for an end to the ‘barbarity of war‘ on Sunday as he spoke of his profound pain over an Israeli strike on the sole Catholic church in Gaza.

Three people died and several were injured, including the parish priest, in the strike on the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City on Thursday. Photos show its roof has been hit close to the main cross, scorching the stone facade, and shattering windows.

Speaking after his Angelus prayer, Leo read out the names of those killed in the incident.

“I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, of indiscriminate use of force and forced displacement of the population,” he said.

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Situation in Gaza ‘unbearable’

A top Vatican official on Saturday called the situation in Gaza “unbearable,” decrying it as “a war without limits,” Vatican News reported on Saturday.

Citing Thursday’s Israeli military strike on the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza, which killed three people and injured 10, including the parish priest, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, demanded full transparency.

“It’s essential that this investigation be carried out seriously and that its findings be shared publicly,” he told Italian state broadcaster RAI, adding that initial explanations calling the strike a “mistake” need further scrutiny.

Commenting on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s phone call to Pope Leo XIV, Parolin said the gesture was “positive” and “absolutely necessary.”

But he emphasized that “after so many words, we finally need to see actions,” stressing the urgent need to relieve suffering in Gaza, where he said the population is “being destroyed and starved.”

He also questioned whether the church was deliberately targeted, suggesting that such a move would be an attempt to eliminate a “moderating force” in the region, referring to the Christian presence.

On broader Vatican diplomacy, Parolin reaffirmed that the Holy See remains open to mediation in conflicts but added: “Mediation only works when both sides accept it.” Without genuine political will, he said, peace efforts are unlikely to succeed.

“The cost of war is terrible for everyone in every way,” he said.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, to date, killing nearly 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and spread of disease.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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