Vatican City, Nov 18, 2023 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis will meet with the families of Israelis being held hostage by Hamas at his next Wednesday general audience, and he will also meet separately with a group of Palestinians with relatives suffering in Gaza.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni has confirmed that the pope will meet with the Israeli and Palestinian delegations separately on Nov. 22 on the sidelines of his public audience in St. Peter’s Square.
“With these meetings, which are exclusively humanitarian in nature, Pope Francis wants to show his spiritual closeness to the suffering of each person,” Bruni told journalists.
Pope Francis has frequently prayed for peace in the Holy Land in his public audiences since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last month. He has also repeatedly called for the hostages being held by Hamas to be freed and for the protection and humanitarian support of civilians in Gaza.
In his Angelus address on Nov. 12, he said: “I am close to all those who are suffering, Palestinians and Israelis. I embrace them in this dark moment. And I pray for them a lot.”
“In Gaza, let the wounded be rescued immediately, let civilians be protected, let far more humanitarian aid be allowed to reach that stricken population. May the hostages be freed, including the elderly and children,” Pope Francis said.
“Every human being, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, of any people or religion, every human being is sacred, is precious in the eyes of God, and has the right to live in peace.”
About 240 people are being held hostage by Hamas, according to the United Nations. Four hostages have been released so far and another was freed by Israeli forces in October. The Israeli military said on Nov. 16 that troops had recovered two bodies of hostages, Yehudit Weiss, 65, and Noa Marciano, 19.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin has underlined that the Holy See views the release of the hostages and a ceasefire as fundamental steps in the resolution of the conflict.
“The release of the hostages is one of the fundamental points for the solution of the current situation, taking into consideration the humanitarian aspects of those who are being held — men, women, children, newborns, pregnant women,” Parolin said on Nov. 17, according to Reuters.
“The other (fundamental point) is a ceasefire, taking into consideration the humanitarian aspects that come with it — the arrival of aid, curing the injured, and other aspects,” he said.
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So, the Pope has decided on moral equivalency? It would seem so. Since the ISRAELIS are the victims here, I find it disturbing he is going in this direction. Are the Palestinians he is meeting Christian at least? With this Pope I somehow doubt it. So few left as the Muslims are systematically eradicating them from Muslim held territories. I seem to recall that these Palestinian “civilians” also elected Hamas to rule over them. Thats not exactly being an innocent bystander, especially as the group makes no secret of it’s many hatreds. Its a sad commentary that so many people are demonstrating and wringing their hands over the Israeli response to the unprovoked atrocity which fell upon them.I hate to say that I would not count on finding too many of the hostages still alive. The Israeli’s cannot allow that consideration to dictate their military response. They need to blow up every tunnel, installation, base and weapon depot. And if Hamas builds them under their hospitals, the resulting destruction is on Hamas, NOT the Jews. Death, even of innocents, is a tragic part of war. You reap what you sow, a biblical injunction Hamas and the Palestinians have evidently never learned. Maybe this time they will. The Jews have a right to defend themselves. Peace at any price is not peace. It is just capitulation.
Humankind is thirsting for peace, togetherness, and on-going-ness.
I don’t think that’s the case in the Middle East at the moment. That’s quite a naive assessment.
If wishes were horses…
Sadly that’s not the case presently. The massacre on Oct. 7th was meant to derail peace negotiations, not enable them. Some folks do want peace in the Mid East, but not the Iranian regime, nor their terrorist proxies.