“May the weapons fall silent, they will never bring peace, and let the conflict not spread. Enough, enough brothers, enough!” said the pope during the Angelus prayer and blessing at the Vatican.
“In Gaza, the wounded must be helped immediately, the shelters must be protected, more humanitarian aid must be sent to the exhausted population, the hostages must be freed,” he continued.
Pope Francis then recalled that among the people taken hostage by Hamas during its October 7 surprise attack against Israel that triggered the war “there are many elderly people and children”.
“Every human being, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, of whatever people or religion, every human being is sacred, is precious in the eyes of God, and has the right to live in peace,” said Francis.
“Every day my thoughts go to the very serious situation in Israel and Palestine.
“I am close to all those who suffer, Palestinians and Israelis. I embrace them in this dark moment.
“And I pray a lot for them,” insisted the pope.
“Let us not lose hope.
“Let us pray, let us work untiringly so that the feeling of humanity might prevail over hardheartedness.”
ANSA
