While Pope Francis was hospitalized in Rome’s Gemelli hospital, one of the cardinals closest to him traveled to Lebanon to demonstrate the pope’s ongoing concern for refugees and for peace in the Middle East.
Conflict in the Middle East
Israel devastated by ‘macabre’ return of child hostages’ bodies as ceasefire holds
Israel has identified three of the bodies of hostages returned Feb. 20 but said the body of Shiri Bibas — mother of two red-headed boys who became a symbol of Israeli hostage suffering, both confirmed dead — was not returned as promised by Hamas.
Vatican cardinal heads to Lebanon to express pope’s solidarity, prayers
One out of four people living in Lebanon is a refugee, and the majority of children born in refugee camps are unregistered at birth, said Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Cardinal Parolin: Palestinians must not be deported from Gaza
The same week U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his idea of emptying Gaza of more than 2 million Palestinians so it could become a “Riviera of the Middle East,” a top Vatican official said there must be no deportations.
Ceasefire overshadows Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, pontifical charity says
The long-awaited and elusive ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has silenced bombs and halted air raids on the Gaza Strip, for the time being, but the humanitarian situation there is dire, the regional director of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association reported.
Pilgrimages are ‘safe,’ Holy Land church leaders say, telling pilgrims: ‘We’re waiting for you’
Catholic leaders in the Holy Land called on Christian pilgrims to return to the region following the implementation of the long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
As ceasefire starts, first Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners return home
In the West Bank, scenes of joy were delayed but the streets erupted in cheers as the first 90 prisoners, mostly women and teens, freed from Israeli prisons, were brought home in white Red Cross buses after midnight Jan. 20 as in the Gaza Strip first caravans of those displaced by 15-month war attempted return to their homes — of which scores are flattened — and first 600 trucks of aid entered the strip.
Gaza ceasefire an ‘encouraging sign of peace’ for the Middle East, U.S. bishop says
The negotiations on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the first release of hostages to begin Jan. 19 are seen as an “encouraging sign of peace,” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.
Rome rabbi accuses pope of ‘selective indignation’ about Gaza
The chief rabbi of Rome said Christian-Jewish dialogue has been a victim of the war unleashed with the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.
Holy Land church leaders welcome ceasefire with relief, urge delivering critical aid
As news spread of a long-awaited ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, reactions from religious leaders in the region expressed hopes for peace in the Holy Land, concern for the safety of hostages as well as the people of the Gaza Strip for the past 15 months.
Vatican diplomats discuss paths toward peace in Middle East
The Vatican’s top diplomat met with papal representatives to various Middle Eastern countries to discuss possible avenues toward peace in the region and the state of the Catholic Church there.
Consecration of new church on banks of Jordan River called a sign of hope for region
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, told thousands of faithful that Pope Francis sent him to preside over the inauguration and consecration of a new Catholic church at the banks of the Jordan River as a sign of the universal church’s closeness to all Christians in the Middle East.