Pope Leo Condemns "Barbarism" of the War in Gaza, Renews Call for Peace
The pontiff's comments came amid international condemnation of Israel's deadly attack on Gaza's only Catholic Church.
This story has been updated.
By Gary Gately
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday expressed “deep sorrow” over Israel’s deadly attack on Gaza’s only Catholic church, while renewing his call for an immediate ceasefire in the enclave and condemning the “barbarism of the war.”
“I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force and the forced displacement of populations,” Pope Leo said after his Angelus prayer at the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo, about 20 miles southeast of Rome.
Pope Leo named the three Christians killed in the attack on Holy Family Catholic Church Thursday: Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, the church doorman, and two elderly women, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad and Najwa Ibrahim Latif Abu Daoud. “I am particularly close to their families and to all the parishioners,” Leo said.
The attack, which Israel said it regretted and called accidental, also injured 10 others, some of them seriously.
Holy Family priest Father Gabriel Romanelli, with whom Pope Francis had spoken regularly during the 21-month Israel-Hamas war until the pontiff’s death in April, suffered a minor injury to his right leg. The priest told Vatican News in January that Francis had “become one of us, one of our community, one of our parishioners.”
Pope Leo, speaking of the Thursday morning attack on the church, where some 600 people have taken shelter during the war, said: “Sadly, this act adds to the continuous military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza. I again call for an immediate halt to the barbarism of the war and for a peaceful resolution of the conflict….
“To our beloved Middle Eastern Christians, I say: I deeply sympathize with your feeling that you can do little in the face of this grave situation. You are in the heart of the Pope and of the whole Church,” he added
Earlier, as he returned from celebrating Mass in the nearby town of Albano Laziale, Leo stressed the need to “pray for peace, and try to convince all parties to come to the table, to dialogue and to lay down their weapons.”
“The world can’t take it any more,” the 69-year-old pope told reporters. “There is so much conflict, so many wars.”
Asked about his phone conversation on Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the pope, Leo said he urged a “renewed push” for an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict and lamented the “agonizing” toll it has taken on Gaza’s civilians.
He and Netanayahu “insisted on the need to protect the sacred places of all religions and to respect people and sacred places and try to leave behind all the violence and the hatred,” the Holy Father said.
Meanwhile, Father Romanelli pleaded for peace in Gaza in an interview with Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
“The situation continues to be very serious. We continue to pray for peace, to try to convince the world that this war will bring no good,” Father Romanelli said. “The sooner it ends, the better — for everyone: for Palestine, for Israel, for all citizens. What can I say? We’ve lost so much, we’ve suffered so much and we continue to suffer.”
He recalled the funeral Mass Thursday at an Orthodox church for Ayyad and Abu Daoud, both of whom had been sitting inside a tent at the church where the Vatican global charity network Caritas Internationalis provides psychological support when falling stone and shrapnel fatally injured them.
At the Mass, Father Romanelli said, the faithful prayed for the Israelis who killed the elderly women: “We said the prayer of our Lord Jesus: 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' May the Lord truly forgive, not only them, but also us, forgive the whole world. For the Lord’s forgiveness is the source of grace, peace and reconciliation.”
Father Romanelli expressed gratitude for Pope Leo’s call to the church after the attack and the rare visit to Gaza and the church Friday from a delegation of Christian leaders led by Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III.
“It was a deeply heartfelt visit, truly beautiful,” Father Romanelli said. “In the midst of this tragedy, we’ve felt comfort, prayer, the closeness of our pastors, all the faithful, and all people of goodwill….
“Let’s try to convince the whole world to end this war, so we can begin rebuilding peace, justice, and reconciliation, both in Palestine and in Israel.”
As the delegation entered Gaza Friday, Pope Leo called Pizzaballa.
“Pope Leo repeatedly stated that it is time to stop this slaughter, that what has happened is unjustifiable and that we must ensure there are no more victims,” the patriarch told Vatican News.
The patriarchs and other Christian leaders condemned the attack on the church.
“We, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, join together in profound solidarity with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the people sheltering in Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza, as we bear witness to the heinous attack by the Israeli Army,” they said in a statement.
“In unyielding unity, we strongly denounce this crime. Houses of worship are sacred spaces that should be kept safe. They are also protected under international law. Targeting a church that houses approximately 600 refugees, including children with special needs, is a violation of these laws. It is also an affront to human dignity, a trampling upon the sanctity of human life and the desecration of a holy site.”
The Christian leaders also urged world leaders and the United Nations to work toward an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, guarantee protection of religious and humanitarian sites and ensure desperately needed aid reaches the “starving masses” there.
Hours after Pope Leo spoke in Castel Gandolfo Sunday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Israeli forces had killed more than 90 Palestinians as they tried to access food aid delivered to the territory.
Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that its troops had “fired warning shots in order to remove an immediate threat posed to them” as thousands of Palestinians gathered in northern Gaza Sunday. The IDF acknowledged some casualties but said the number reported by the Health Ministry far exceeded what the military’s initial investigation had found.
The United Nations World Food Program said 25 trucks with aid that had entered the territory encountered massive crowds, which came under fire.
“We are deeply concerned and saddened by this tragic incident resulting in the loss of countless lives,” the agency said in a statement Thursday. “These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza.
“Today’s violent incident comes despite assurances from Israeli authorities that humanitarian operational conditions would improve, including that armed forces will not be present nor engage at any stage along humanitarian convoy routes,” the statement added.
And the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) demanded Sunday that Israel lift its blockade on humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the UN agency said: “The Israeli Authorities are starving civilians in Gaza. Among them are 1 million children. Lift the siege: Allow UNRWA to bring in food and medicines.”
Despite Netanyahu’s expressions of regret and assertions that the strike on the church was accidental, leaders across the world, including U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, condemned the attack.
The conversation Friday between Leo, the first U.S. born pope, and Netanyahu came hours after Trump called the prime minister and demanded that Israel publicly take responsibility for the attack, the White House said. The State Department called on Israel to investigate the attack and ensure the safety of all civilians in Gaza.
Israel has repeatedly targeted schools, hospitals and shelters and destroyed dozens of mosques and churches since launching its offensive on Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023, cross-border Hamas terrorist attack. During the attack, the militant Islamist group killed 1,200 civilians and took 251 hostages, 50 of whom Israel says remain captive, about half of them believed to be alive.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas militants of hiding out in civilian sites and blamed the militants for civilian deaths.
In retaliation for the Hamas attack, Israel has killed over 58,600 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, the Gaza Health Ministry says. (The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its tally.)
Pope Francis had minced no words in his scathing criticism of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, particularly its heavy toll on civilians. Leo thus far has been more measured in his public comments, though he has repeatedly urged a ceasefire, the release of hostages and allowing desperately needed aid to enter the territory.
Last year, Pope Francis denounced Israel’s attacks as “immoral” and disproportionate and suggested allegations of genocide in Gaza should be “carefully investigated.”
Francis’ criticisms infuriated Israeli and Jewish leaders, who called them antisemitic, and they accused the Jesuit pontiff of ignoring the broader context of Israel’s conflict with Hamas following its 2023 terrorist attack on the country.
Last December, Amnesty International released a report concluding that “Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.” Israel strongly denied the claim.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary general, said at the time that major arms suppliers to Israel, including the U.S. and Germany, “must know they are violating their obligation to prevent genocide and are at risk of becoming complicit in genocide” and called on them to “act now to bring Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza to an immediate end.”
A month earlier, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense chief, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict. Last week, ICC judges rejected Israel's request to withdraw the arrest warrants. (The ICC had also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas’ military chief, Muhammad Deif, accusing him of crimes against humanity, including murder, taking hostages and committing sexual violence, but he was killed in an Israeli airstrike, Israel and Hamas said.)
Alistair Dutton, Secretary General of the Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican charity, told Vatican News in an interview published Sunday: “We are clear with the state of Israel that this cannot continue and that other states must stop providing the support to Israel that allows it to continue waging these atrocities on the people of Gaza. We need the bombardment and the atrocities to stop immediately.”
