Will Pope Leo XIV Rewrite Francis’s Gaza Playbook? Inside the Vatican’s New Pro‑Israel Pivot
Wikimedia Commons/Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar (CC BY-SA 4.0), croppedPope Leo XIV has wasted no time in redefining the Vatican’s stance on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In his first official communication as pontiff, he chose to address not a global assembly or internal Church body, but Rabbi Noam Marans of the American Jewish Committee. In doing so, he sent an unmistakable message: The Catholic Church is no longer going to equivocate when it comes to Israel.
The tone of the letter and its content signal a Vatican realignment — one that fully affirms Israel’s right to defend itself, acknowledges the Jewish people’s historical and spiritual connection to the land, and calls for a more honest reckoning with the realities of Islamist extremism.
This marks a sharp turn from the tone set by Pope Francis, who in response to the October 7 Hamas massacre issued appeals for peace and restraint. While Francis called for the protection of innocent lives on all sides, his unwillingness to clearly differentiate between a sovereign nation defending itself and a terror organization engaging in mass violence left many Jewish leaders and allies disappointed. His phrase “never respond to terror with terror” became a flashpoint in debates about Vatican neutrality, especially at a time when Israel was mourning and mobilizing in response to an unprovoked attack. Leo XIV, by contrast, has made clear that neutrality in such cases is no longer an option.
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