Following fighting caused by a Hamas strike on Israel, Pope Francis twice called the priest who oversees Gaza’s small Catholic population to offer his prayers, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
“The pope called me a few minutes ago… he expressed his closeness and offered his prayers,” Father Gabriel Romanelli told Vatican News, the Vatican’s media outlet.
He said he thanked the 86-year-old pontiff for his comments on Sunday, when Francis called for “peace in Israel and Palestine” and for “the attacks and the weapons” to cease, saying “terrorism and war do not lead to a solution”.
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“The pope also called yesterday,” Romanelli added, saying that Francis wanted to know how the people in the parish were doing.
The priest claimed he had left Gaza to pick up some medications but was now stranded in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank and unable to leave.
“The Christian community is doing fine, as well as they can in this situation,” he said, adding that his parish was currently hosting around 150 refugees.
The death toll from the war passed 3,000 on Tuesday, the fourth day of fierce fighting since the Gaza-based Islamists launched a surprise attack on Israel.
AFP