Gaza Archives - Page 2 of 7

Gaza

Pope talks of ‘courage to negotiate’ to end war in Ukraine

March 11, 2024

ROME – The Pope has spoken of Ukraine needing to consider negotiations to end the ongoing war with Russia. In weighing up the debate between those who say it is time for Ukraine to consider a negotiated settlement and those who argue the country must fight on, the Pope has said he believes “the strongest

Archbishop of Canterbury apologises for not meeting Bethlehem pastor over pro-Palestinian rally concerns

February 29, 2024

The Archbishop of Canterbury has issued a public apology for declining to meet a Bethlehem-based pastor during a UK visit earlier this year over concerns about such a meeting happening against the backdrop of the Gaza conflict. Archbishop Justin Welby cancelled plans to meet Lutheran pastor Munther Isaac in the latter half of February 2024,

A Jewish perspective on the Catholic Church’s response to the Gaza conflict

February 19, 2024

Amid the plethora of public utterances on the wrongs and rights of Israel’s military action in Gaza, those of several key Vatican officials and spokesmen, including Pope Francis, along with the comments of their neighbour, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo di Segni, have featured prominently in the Catholic Herald. Finding myself invited to supplement

Rift between Vatican and Israel grows after Gaza remarks by top papal advisor

February 15, 2024

ROME – A growing rift between the Vatican and Israel was exacerbated 14 February, when the Israeli ambassador to the Holy See hit back against a top Vatican official who said the ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza is disproportionate. On the margins of a 13 Feb. event commemorating the 95th anniversary of the Lateran

Rome’s Chief Rabbi expresses ‘great disappointment’ with Vatican’s stance on Gaza

January 24, 2024

ROME – Having already warned of “many steps backward” in Catholic-Jewish relations as a result of contrasting reactions to Israel’s war with Hamas, the Chief Rabbi of Rome has used a new interview to express “great disappointment” with the way the Vatican has responded to the crisis in Gaza. “The Jewish community, and not only

Pope highlights civilian casualties in a world ‘increasingly lacerated’ by conflict

January 08, 2024

ROME – After a year that saw thousands of civilians killed in wars and violent conflicts, Pope Francis told diplomats accredited to the Holy See that international war crimes must be recognised and prevented. In his 8 January address, the Pope noted that as the year 2024 opens the world is “increasingly lacerated” by conflict,

Pope offers usual Christmas message of hope while lamenting ‘the little Jesuses of today’ lost to war, migration and abortion

December 28, 2023

At the end of a year marked by the outbreak of fresh wars and by various personal health crises, Pope Francis at Christmas offered a message of hope, saying Jesus’s birth brings light to a dark world and his littleness shows the path of salvation, through humility and love. Though he also took to task

Bethlehem Dispatch: A muted Christmas ‘bereft its usual festive splendour’

December 27, 2023

Bethlehem’s main square is bereft its usual festive splendour and twinkling red, green and white lights. Usually bustling this time of year with thousands of global visitors and with Christians visiting from across the Holy Land—including Gaza—the square is now desolate. There are no tourists or pilgrims. The abrupt halting of access for Christians from