• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Members of the U.N. Security Council host an open discussion on the ongoing violence in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and Palestine, at the U.N. headquarters in New York Oct. 24, 2023. (CNS photo/Eskinder Debebe, UN Photo)

Pope appeals for unimpeded aid into Gaza, release of all hostages

October 25, 2023
By Catholic News Service
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, Vatican, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis again called for the release of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas militants and for allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza.

“I am always thinking about the serious situation in Palestine and Israel,” the pope said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 25.

“I encourage the release of hostages and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” he said, and “I continue to pray for those who suffer, to hope for avenues toward peace in the Middle East and martyred Ukraine and in other regions wounded by war.”

More than 200 people were believed to be held by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza after their attacks on Israel Oct. 7. While some aid was coming in from Egypt, Israel has imposed a full blockade on Gaza.

The pope spoke the morning after Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Vatican’s permanent observer at the United Nations, told the Security Council that although dialogue seems impossible right now, it is the “only viable option for a lasting end to the cycle of violence” that has plagued the Holy Land.

“Amidst the escalating violence, it is imperative for the authorities of the state of Israel and the state of Palestine to demonstrate audacity to renew their commitment toward a peace based on justice and respect for the legitimate aspirations of both sides,” said the archbishop.

“The Holy See remains convinced that the two-state solution still offers hope for such a peace,” he said during a Security Council open debate Oct. 24 on “the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.”

“In the most absolute terms and unequivocally,” the archbishop said, the Holy See condemns “the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas and other armed groups” against Israel.

“Thousands were barbarically killed and wounded. Others were taken hostage,” he said. “These crimes demonstrate utter contempt for human life and are unjustifiable,” he said, repeating the pope’s call for the release of hostages.

The “distressing escalation of violence,” the archbishop said, has caused “deplorable levels of suffering” in a land that is “so dear to Christians, Jews and Muslims.”

At the same time, Archbishop Caccia said that “the criminal responsibility for terrorist acts is always personal and can never be attributed to an entire nation or people,” for example, by blaming all Palestinians or even all the people of Gaza for the actions of Hamas and allied groups.

Israel’s right self-defense, like the right of every nation attacked, “must always comply with international humanitarian law, including the principle of proportionality,” he said.

The Vatican is seriously concerned about the “unfolding humanitarian disaster in Gaza, which has claimed thousands of lives and has displaced hundreds of thousands of people,” he said. Israel’s “total siege” of the territory is causing “indiscriminate suffering among the population, including due to shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies.”

Archbishop Caccia repeated Pope Francis’ call for “the urgent facilitation and the continuation of humanitarian corridors so that aid can reach the entire population.”

Contributing to this story were Carol Glatz and Cindy Wooden.

Read More Crisis in Israel

In Syria, doubts raised about discovery of body said to be that of kidnapped priest

Colorado faith leaders express sorrow over attack on rally for release of Hamas hostages

Holy See calls for respect for human dignity, international law as civilian deaths soar

As Trump returns from Middle East with massive arm deals, patriarch says ‘no’ to weapons

Jerusalem patriarch, back in Holy Land, reflects on conclave, ‘inconceivable’ Gaza situation

Francis’ final gift to Gaza: Popemobile will be transformed into mobile clinic for children

Copyright © 2023 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Catholic News Service

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Religious sisters played role in pope’s formation in grade school, N.J. province discovers

  • With an Augustinian in chair of St. Peter, order sees growing interest in vocations

  • Communicate hope with gentleness

  • ‘The Ritual’ seeks to portray exorcism respectfully

  • Hundreds gather at Rebuilt Conference 2025 to ‘imagine what’s possible’ in parish ministry

| Latest Local News |

Franciscan Sister Francis Anita Rizzo, who served in Baltimore for 18 years, dies at 95

Hundreds gather at Rebuilt Conference 2025 to ‘imagine what’s possible’ in parish ministry

Radio Interview: Dominican sister at Mount de Sales shares faith journey from astrophysics to religious life

Mount de Sales Dominican sister shares journey after pursuing science, finding faith 

Words spell success for archdiocesan students

| Latest World News |

Parishes will pay $80 million in Buffalo Diocese’s $150 million bankruptcy settlement

Papal diplomats must always defend poor, religious freedom, pope says

On a day of ‘national tragedy,’ Austria mourns 9 victims of high school shooting

Fathers of the Church: The Greek (or Eastern) Fathers

In move called a ‘dark day’ for residents, N.Y. Senate passes assisted suicide law

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Parishes will pay $80 million in Buffalo Diocese’s $150 million bankruptcy settlement
  • Papal diplomats must always defend poor, religious freedom, pope says
  • Franciscan Sister Francis Anita Rizzo, who served in Baltimore for 18 years, dies at 95
  • ‘No tengan miedo de hacer lo que El Señor quiere para nosotros’
  • On a day of ‘national tragedy,’ Austria mourns 9 victims of high school shooting
  • Hundreds gather at Rebuilt Conference 2025 to ‘imagine what’s possible’ in parish ministry
  • Fathers of the Church: The Greek (or Eastern) Fathers
  • In move called a ‘dark day’ for residents, N.Y. Senate passes assisted suicide law
  • Pope Leo’s core identity is Augustinian, say religious

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en