VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of protecting places of worship in a call Friday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following Israel’s deadly strike on Gaza’s only Catholic Church, the Vatican said.
The pontiff also renewed his appeal for negotiations, a ceasefire and the end of the war, while reiterating his concern for the “dramatic humanitarian situation” in the Palestinian territory, it said in a statement.
The Vatican said Netanyahu initiated the call on Friday morning, the day after Israeli fire on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City killed three people and provoked international condemnation.
“During the conversation, the Holy Father renewed his appeal to revive negotiations and reach a ceasefire and the end of the war,” the Vatican said in a statement, noting that Leo was at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa comforts a man who was injured in an Israeli strike a day earlier on the Holy Family Church, as a delegation of top Christian clerics visit the Arab Ahli (Baptist) Hospital in Gaza City on Friday. (AFP
“He once again expressed his concern for the dramatic humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza, whose heartbreaking toll is borne particularly by children, the elderly and the sick.
“Finally, the Holy Father reiterated the urgency of protecting places of worship and especially the faithful and all people in Palestine and Israel.”
Netanyahu has said Israel “deeply regrets” the strike, and blamed a “stray round.”
He repeated this regret in the conversation with the pope, which was “friendly,” a spokesman for Netanyahu told AFP, adding that the two men agreed to meet soon.
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa (L) and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, visit the Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City on Friday, a day after Israeli fire killed three at the Palestinian territory's only Catholic church. (AFP)
The conversation took place as two of the most senior Christian leaders in Jerusalem made a rare visit to Gaza on Friday.
The Roman Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, greeted local Christians and toured the Holy Family Church, which was hit by the Israeli strike.
Both men, in full black clerical robes in the searing heat, arrived in two battered people carriers, one with the yellow, white and cross-keys flag of the Vatican fluttering from the front window, before heading inside.
"The Patriarchs met with families who have sought shelter there. They offered condolences, conveyed pastoral encouragement, and personally observed the damage sustained by the church during the recent strike," the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said.
At the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church, they "offered words of comfort and solidarity" to the displaced, in a visit the Greek Orthodox Jerusalem Patriarchate called a "powerful expression" of church unity.
The two Jerusalem church leaders said aid agencies helped facilitate the "full pastoral visit", which also involved the delivery of food supplies and emergency medical equipment, and medical evacuation of the injured.
