ROME – A massive and deadly surprise offensive from Hamas in recent days has prompted Israel to declare war, drawing appeals from Pope Francis and church leaders in the Holy Land for calm, and for international intervention to prevent further bloodshed.
At the same time, Israel’s embassy to the Holy See has warned the Vatican to avoid what it described as “linguistic ambiguities” and “parallelisms” that would equate the aggressors in the conflict with its victims.
Speaking to faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his October 8 Sunday Angelus address, Pope Francis said, “I am following with apprehension and pain what is happening in Israel, where violence has exploded even more ferociously, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries”.
