Bethlehem’s mayor has met Pope Leo XIV to deliver a stark account of the plight of Christians in the Holy Land and to appeal for urgent intervention to stop the war in Gaza.
Maher Nicola Canawati, appointed mayor in May, greeted the Holy Father at the end of the Wednesday General Audience in St Peter’s Square, where he invited the Pope to visit Gaza and described the hardships endured by his people. He said the Pope assured him of his closeness and told him, “My heart is in Gaza, my heart is with you.”
