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UPI
22-07-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Catholic clergy: 'It is time to end this nonsense' in Gaza
1 of 6 | Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, called for an end to "this nonsense" during a joint press conference about the severe suffering they witnessed during a rare visit to Gaza on Tuesday. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo July 22 (UPI) -- The Catholic Church's Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem called on regional and world leaders to end the violence in Gaza after Thursday's deadly church shelling. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Patriarch Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and other clergy toured the remains of the Catholic Church of the Holy Family in northern Gaza on Tuesday. They called for an end to the war during a press conference held afterward at the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center in Israel. "We entered a place of devastation, but also of wonderful humanity," Pizzaballa told media. "We walked through the dust of ruins, past collapsed buildings and tents everywhere: in courtyards, alleyways, on the streets and on the beach -- tents that have become homes for those who have lost everything," Pizzaballa said. "And yet, in the midst of all this, we encountered something deeper than the destruction: the dignity of the human spirit that refuses to be extinguished," he continued. "We met mothers preparing food for others, nurses treating wounds with gentleness, and people of all faiths still praying to the God who sees and never forgets." Pizzaballa called on regional and world leaders to find a way to restore "life, dignity and all lost humanity" in Gaza. "It is time to end this nonsense, to end the war and put the common good of people as the top priority," he said. Patriarch Theophilos III called Gaza a "land bruised by prolonged affliction and pierced by the cries of its people" after touring the church's grounds. "We entered as servants of the suffering Body of Christ, walking among the wounded, the bereaved, the displaced and the faithful whose dignity remains unbroken despite their agony," Theophilos III said. "We encountered a people crushed by the weight of war, yet carrying within them the image of God," he said. "Among the broken walls of the Church of the Holy Family and the wounded hearts of its faithful, we witnessed both profound grief and unyielding hope." Theophilos III said, "Silence in the face of suffering is a betrayal of conscience," and called on the international community to make peace in Gaza. Two were killed and several injured, including a priest who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, when the IDF shelled the church. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday apologized for Israel Defense Forces shelling the Catholic church, which is the only one in Gaza. He said a "stray ammunition" struck the church, and Israeli officials are investigating the matter. Local residents and displaced Gazans were using the church for shelter when it was struck.
Middle East Eye
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Macron says Israel's war on Gaza is unjustifiable after Israeli attack on church
French President Emmanuel Macron said that Israel's war on Gaza was 'unjustifiable' and he 'strongly condemns" the Israeli airstrike on a church in Gaza, he said in a post on X on Thursday. 'Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all Christians who, like all Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the hostages, are living through hell'. He said he had told Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem that France is in 'solidarity with all Christians in Palestine, who, from Gaza to Taybeh, are now under threat'. 'Every day, dozens of Palestinian civilians are killed in Gaza: the continuation of this war is unjustifiable,' Macron went on to say. 'It is unjustifiable and shameful that humanitarian aid is not being delivered on a massive scale, in violation of all international principles of humanitarian action'. He also called for a ceasefire to be finalized, and civilians and hostages freed from the threat of permanent war. Earlier on Thursday, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot described the bombing of the Catholic Church of the Holy Family in Gaza as "unacceptable". The church – along with all Catholic religious communities in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza - are under the historical protection of France, based on an agreement between the Ottoman Empire and France dating back to the early 20th century. Three people were killed in the attack, and 10 people were injured.
L'Orient-Le Jour
17-07-2025
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
France condemns 'unacceptable' bombing of church under its 'historic protection'
France condemns the "unacceptable" bombing of the Catholic Church of the Holy Family in Gaza, "placed under France's historic protection," which left two people dead, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot posted Thursday on X. "I expressed to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem the emotion and solidarity of our country. These attacks are intolerable; it is time for the carnage in Gaza to stop," the minister wrote. "France protects Catholic religious communities in Israel and Palestine. This role is the legacy of a long history that goes back to the capitulations signed by Francis I with Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1535," the Foreign Affairs Ministry recalled in a written response to a senator's question in 2014. Since the 1920s, France has no longer had a "legal role in protecting Eastern Catholic Christians. However, the agreements signed between France and the Ottoman Empire at Mytilene in 1901 and Constantinople in 1913, which granted France protection over Catholic religious communities in the Holy Land, have been recognized by the Israeli and Palestinian authorities and are thus still in effect," according to the Ministry. The Gaza Civil Defense and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced Thursday the death of two people in an Israeli airstrike on the only Catholic church in the Palestinian territory, which has been a refuge for this small community since the beginning of the war. Israel, at war with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023, said it "never targets" religious sites in the Gaza Strip and added that the circumstances in which the church was damaged were "under review."
