Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the Holy See is “appalled by what is happening in Gaza” after an Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza killed 20 people, including five journalists. Source: Vatican News.
“We are appalled by what is happening in Gaza, despite the condemnation of the whole world,” Cardinal Parolin said yesterday, noting that “there is a unanimity in condemning what is taking place.”
The Cardinal referred to the Israeli strike on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which killed 20 people, including five journalists.
“It makes no sense,” he said, adding that “there seem to be no openings for a solution” and that the situation is becoming “increasingly complicated and, from a humanitarian perspective, increasingly precarious, with all the consequences we are seeing day by day.”
Israel Defence Forces confirmed the latest strike in a statement yesterday, OSV News reports, noting that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such”.
IDF said its chief of general staff “instructed to conduct an initial inquiry as soon as possible,” and stressed that “the IDF acts to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals as much as possible while maintaining the safety of IDF troops.”
The strike comes just three days after the global day of prayer and fasting for peace called by Pope Leo XIV on August 22 amid a surge in global conflict, particularly in the Middle East and Ukraine.
On the war in Ukraine, Cardinal Parolin stressed the need for “a lot of politics, because in theory there are many possible solutions and many paths that could lead to peace. But they must be put into practice, and this also requires dispositions of the spirit.”
“There is a need for hope for the whole world,” Cardinal Parolin continued, recalling that the Jubilee announced by Pope Francis, dedicated precisely to this theme, aims to be “a moment of regaining hope.” It is, he explained, “a hope against all hope,” at a time when “there are not many reasons to hope, especially at the international level.”
Recent days, he said, show once again “the difficulty of setting in motion paths of peace in situations of conflict.” Yet, he insisted, “we must not give in to resignation” but rather “continue to work for peace and reconciliation.”
FULL STORY
Cardinal Parolin: “We are appalled at what is happening in Gaza” (Vatican News)
Journalists killed in Gaza hospital strike, following global day of prayer for peace (By Gina Christian, OSV News)
