In a letter to the Catholics of the region on the occasion of the anniversary of October 7, he expresses his closeness to all those who suffer because of the war. “Blood flows, as do tears; anger increases, along with the desire for revenge, while it seems that few are interested in what is most needed and what people want.” “Thank you because you know how to pray and love despite everything.”
Vatican City () – “I carry something in my heart that I want to say to you, brothers and sisters, and also to all the men and women of all confessions and religions who in the Middle East suffer the madness of war: I am close to you “I am with you,” says Pope Francis in the letter he sent to the Catholic communities of the Middle East this October 7, the day that marks the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks against the Israeli kibbutzim on the border with Gaza that They unleashed a bloody war in the region.
“A year ago – Francis writes – the fuse of hatred was lit that has not been extinguished, but rather unleashed a spiral of violence in the face of the shameful inability of the international community and the most powerful countries to silence the weapons and put an end to the tragedy of war. The blood flows, as well as the tears; Anger increases, along with the desire for revenge, while it seems that few are interested in what is most needed and what people want: dialogue, peace. I never tire of repeating that war is a defeat, that weapons do not build the future but destroy it, that violence never brings peace. “History proves it, and yet years and years of conflict seem to have taught us nothing.”
The Pope addresses the Catholics of the Middle East, a “defenseless little flock, thirsty for peace.” “Thank you – he tells them – for what you are, thank you because you want to stay in your land, thank you because you know how to pray and love despite everything. You are the seed loved by God, and just as a seed apparently suffocated by the earth that covers it always knows how to find its way upwards, towards the light, to bear fruit and give life, in the same way do not allow yourselves to be suffocated by the darkness that surrounds them but, planted in their sacred lands, become sprouts of hope, because the light of faith leads them to bear witness to love while hate is spoken, to encounter while conflict prevails, to unity while everything pushes the opposition”.
“Men today do not know how to find peace – he adds – and we, Christians, must not tire of asking God for it. That is why today I have invited everyone to live a day of prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting are the weapons of love that change history, the weapons that defeat our only true enemy: the spirit of evil that foments war.”
In his letter, Pope Francis expresses above all his closeness to all those who suffer because of this conflict. He proclaims himself close to the “tortured and exhausted inhabitants of Gaza”; to all those who are “forced to leave their homes, to abandon school and work, to wander in search of a goal to escape the bombs”; to “you, mothers, who shed tears seeing your children dead or wounded, like Mary looking at Jesus; to “you, little ones who inhabit the great lands of the Middle East, where the conspiracies of the powerful take away your right to play.”
“I am with you – he continues – who are afraid to look up, because fire is raining from the sky. I am with you, who have no voice, because there is a lot of talk about plans and strategies, but little about the specific situation of those who suffer from war, that the powerful force others to fight. But God’s inflexible judgment hangs over them.”
“I am with you, who thirst for peace and justice – he adds – who do not give in to the logic of evil and in the name of Jesus love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them.” It is these children of peace – he explains – who “comfort the heart of God, wounded by the evil of man. And thanks to all those around the world who help them; I ask them to continue doing so with generosity.” “Brothers and sisters in Jesus – concludes Pope Francis – I bless you and embrace you with affection, from the heart. May Mary, Queen of Peace, take care of you. May Saint Joseph, patron of the Church, protect them.”
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