Paul Keenan“Stop. I am asking you with all my heart, stop.” This was the Pope’s heartfelt plea to the warring sides in the Gaza conflict on July 27.
Setting aside his prepared Sunday Angelus script to pray for those caught up in conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine and Iraq, the Pontiff insisted that “all is lost with war but nothing is lost with peace”.
“Brothers and sisters: never war,” the Pope urged. “My thoughts go especially to the children, from whom we take away the hope for a decent life: dead children, injured children, maimed children, orphaned children, children who have war relics for toys, children who do not know how to smile.”
Speaking on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, Pope Francis expressed the hope that “the lessons of history will be taken into account, ensuring that the demands of peace prevail through patient and courageous dialogue”.
The Pope’s words were delivered on a day of sustained artillery fire to and from the Gaza Strip, where the death toll continues to rise. They followed an earlier submission, on July 23, to the United Nations Human Rights Council by the Vatican’s permanent representative, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, who stressed that “the time has come for everyone to find the courage to be generous and creative in the service of the common good, the courage to forge a peace which rests on the acknowledgment by all of the right of two states to exist and to live in peace and security within internationally recognised borders”.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has contacted Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urge an immediate ceasefire.
The call came as America’s Secretary of State John Kerry continued negotiations towards a sustainable ceasefire, and signals a measure of US impatience with its Middle East partner over the ongoing crisis.