As the world prayed for peace in the Holy Land on 27th October, Pope Francis called for the war to halt and prayers to continue during the Angelus on 29th October, as the death toll in Gaza reached 8,000 and Israeli troops gradually increased its ground activity in the Gaza Strip, without calling it an “invasion.”
“Let us continue to pray for Ukraine, as well as for the serious situation in Palestine and Israel, and for other regions at war,” the pope said. “Particularly, in Gaza, may space be opened to guarantee humanitarian aid, and may the hostages be released right away,” the pope urged, calling for a ceasefire.
In a recorded YouTube video message on 25th October , Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, told the Christians in Gaza that he is dedicating all of his time in prayer for them and in dialogue with all the responsible authorities to bring the Israel-Hamas war to an end.
On 27th October, the Franciscan Friars in Jerusalem, led by the cardinal and the custos of the Holy Land, Father Franceso Patton, united with the call by Pope Francis for a day of prayer and fasting by walking the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem’s Old City for the first time since the war broke out.
Picture: CNS photo/Lola Gomez