Vatican hardens tone on Israel after Gaza parish strike
An Israeli army strike on the only Catholic church in Gaza last week has pushed the Vatican to change its tone on Israel and blame it more directly in the dragging war -- a break from its traditional diplomacy strategy.
The strike killed three people in the Holy Family Church in the centre of Gaza City -- prompting condemnation by politicians and by religious leaders of various denominations.
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday slammed the 'barbarity' of the war and the blind 'use of force,' denouncing 'the attack by the Israeli army.'
It was a change of language after two years of tireless, repetitive calls for peace by the Vatican under former Pope Francis, who died in April.
Francois Mabille, an analyst at France's Geopolitical Observatory of Religion, said the statements represent an increasingly critical view of Israel in the Catholic world.
Beyond growing anger worldwide at the human cost of the Gaza war, he cited 'the fact that it's happening on holy ground.'
It is leading to 'at least a temporary shift in Catholic opinion in general,' he told AFP.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Pope Leo -- who became pontiff in May -- and said his country 'deeply regrets' the strike, blaming a 'stray missile' and vowing an investigation.
Netanyahu's spokesman said the conversation was 'friendly' and that the two men agreed to meet soon.
But on the same day, in an interview with Italian broadcaster Rai 2, the Vatican's second-in-command -- Cardinal Pietro Parolin -- implied the strike may have been intentional.
He called on Israel to publicise the findings of its investigation to find out 'if it really was an error, which we can legitimately doubt, or if there was a will to directly attack a Christian church.'
The Vatican also sent the cardinal of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on a rare visit to Gaza Friday, where he visited the wounded and conducted a mass at the Holy Family Church.
The visit was meant to show that Catholic authorities were determined to stay in Gaza.
'We are not a target. They say it was a mistake, even if everyone here does not believe that is the case,' the cardinal told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
'Tyrant'
Mabille, the analyst, said the Holy See is now also using 'more precise vocabulary based on legal categories.'
On Sunday, the American-born pope called for 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.'
Mabille said that constituted four fundamental rights under humanitarian law that are being violated by Netanyahu's government.
Some Catholic officials are going much further.
In an interview to Italy's La Stampa newspaper, Cardinal Augusto Paolo Lojudice -- who also serves as a judge at a Vatican tribunal -- said Netanyahu is 'not stopping because he is a tyrant pursuing a dark and bloodthirsty plan for power'.
Lojudice -- who worked with Leo for several years before was made pope -- accused Israel of 'evil without logic' in Gaza.
The Vatican, which since 2015 has recognised the state of Palestine, supports a two-state solution in Israel.
It has also called for a special international status for Jerusalem, with free and safe access to religious sites there.
Already strained ties with Israel degraded further after Israel launched its assault following Hamas's deadly October 7, 2023 attack.
Diverging from the Vatican's official line, Pope Francis questioned whether Israel's heavy handed military response amounted to 'genocide' in Gaza.
The current tense diplomatic exchanges also come after a small Christian village in the central occupied West Bank was burnt down in early July and during heightened criticism of Israeli settler attacks.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Lawyer calls on Canada to speed up visa approvals as situation worsens in Gaza
ST. JOHN'S — A Toronto immigration lawyer says family members of Canadians are dying in Gaza as the federal immigration department drags it heels approving visas through a special program launched in 2024. Debbie Rachlis said Canada must speed up the approval process for the temporary special measures visa it is offering to members of Palestinian Canadians' families who are trying to flee the violence in Gaza. Rachlis represents dozens of applicants to the program and said she is involved with 'at least five cases' in which people have died waiting for word on their visa. She lobbied for the special measures program as a member of the Gaza Family Reunification Project. 'We are all aware of many, many situations where people who were waiting for visas to come to Canada have died and have been killed,' Rachlis said in a recent interview. That includes people who have died of starvation, or injuries from bombings, and people who have been killed while lining up to get rations, she said. 'They are all preventable and terrible deaths.' Canada opened the multi-step program offering temporary residents visas to members of Canadians' families trapped in Gaza on Jan. 9, 2024. It closed on March 26, after the program's cap of 5,000 visa applications had been accepted for processing. Fewer than 1,200 visas had been granted as of June 21, said Jeffrey MacDonald, a spokesperson for the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. That's less than a quarter of the visas Canada said it would hand out. Eight hundred and forty-one people had arrived in Canada from Gaza as of June 8, MacDonald said in an email. The visa program requires applicants to submit biometric information — including fingerprints and photos — collected in-person at an IRCC office. There is no such office in Gaza. The Canadian Press has spoken to several Palestinian Canadians who paid thousands of dollars for their family members in Gaza to pay private agents for passage across the border in Cairo, where there is a Canadian immigration office to collect biometric data. The Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt has been closed since May 2024. 'The primary challenge continues to be the ability for people to exit Gaza,' MacDonald said. 'Movement out of Gaza remains extremely challenging and may not be possible at this time, as countries and other actors set their own entry and exit requirements.' 'We continue working closely with local authorities — at every level — to facilitate the exit of people in Gaza and to advocate for their safety,' he added. Rachlis noted that other western countries have dropped the biometrics requirement. She wondered why Canada wouldn't do the same, especially as the situation for Palestinians in Gaza worsens. Food experts have warned for months of the risk of famine in Gaza, where Israel has restricted aid because it says Hamas siphons off goods to help bolster its rule, without providing evidence for that claim. Images emerging from Gaza in recent days of emaciated children have fanned global criticism of Israel, including by close allies who have called for an end to the war and the humanitarian catastrophe it has spawned. Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney condemned the Israeli government for its 'failure to prevent the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza' and criticized its handling of humanitarian aid in Gaza as a 'violation of international law.' On Sunday, the Israeli military on began a daily 10-hour pause in fighting in three areas of Gaza, to 'increase the scale of humanitarian aid' entering the territory. Health officials in Gaza said at least 37 Palestinians were killed in separate strikes from late Saturday into Sunday, including 22 people seeking aid. The situation in Cairo is also precarious for those waiting for visas, Rachlis said. She has many clients who managed to get to Cairo and complete the biometrics requirement. They've been waiting for a year or more for word on their visa application status, she said. They have no medical care in Egypt and their children cannot go to school, she said. They are largely living off the fundraising efforts of charities and their families in Canada. 'We need to speed up processing for folks who are in Egypt,' she said, adding that she believes much of the delay stems from the 'intense scrutiny' applicants to the visa program are subject to. Applicants are asked to supply their social media accounts, details about scars and other marks on their bodies, information on everyone they are related to — including through marriage — and every passport they have ever had. Last year, The Canadian Press obtained a letter sent to an applicant by a Canadian immigration officer which asks if they had 'ever provided medical care to injured Hamas members.' It is a violation of the Geneva Convention for medical workers to deny care to someone injured in a war zone. Rachlis said families need quicker information about their applications so they can make arrangements and get to safety. 'Families need answers,' she said. 'They need answers about what happened with this program and why it seems to have been set up to fail.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025. — With files from The Associated Press Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
EU reaches trade framework with Trump
July 27, 2025 | The EU has the framework of a new trade deal with the U.S., but doesn't escape Trump's tariffs. Israel pauses some fighting in Gaza and allows air drops of aid to resume. And, a golden start to the world championships for swimmer Summer McIntosh.
CBC
9 hours ago
- CBC
Criticism of Israel grows as aid trickles into Gaza
Israel has agreed to limit fighting in parts of Gaza and would allow more aid into the region, but both moves are facing criticism for being too little too late.
