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Vatican foreign minister deplores Hamas attack, rues ‘execrable anti-Christian acts by Jewish extremists’
June 10, 2024
» Continue to this story on L'Osservatore Romano (Italian)
CWN Editor's Note: Speaking at an event at the Jewish Museum of Rome marking the 76th anniversary of Israel’s independence, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations deplored “the horrific 7 October terrorist attack by Hamas and other militias against the Israeli people, in which hundreds of people, including numerous Jews, were brutally killed, raped, and barbarically taken hostage.”
Commenting on the Israel-Hamas war, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher said that “the Holy Father Francis has made three clear demands in his appeals: a cease-fire on all fronts; the immediate release of all Israeli hostages; and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to the affected Palestinian population in Gaza.”
The “fundamental principle of humanity must never be forsaken or eclipsed by military strategies,” he continued. “Otherwise the principles of necessity and proportionality are inevitably compromised.”
While “the Holy See must adhere to the principles of neutrality,” this principle “does not mean being morally indifferent,” he added, as he spoke of Israeli military actions in Gaza.
Archbishop Gallagher also rued the “increasingly aggressive attitude of some administrative authorities, especially municipal ones,” toward the Church in Israel, and called for greater efforts “to denounce and prevent execrable anti-Christian acts by Jewish extremists.”
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Jun. 12, 2024 12:48 AM ET USA
Three clear demands? If he did not include the release of Palestinian hostages and other political prisoners by the Israeli government, he should have. There are many times more of these than of Israeli hostages, and many of the Palestinians have been held hostage for much longer periods of time.
