By Charles Collins
Pope Leo XIV spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday evening, after a tank struck the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing three people. Several others were injured, including Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of Holy Family Church.
Israel insists the strike on Holy Family was accidental. “Israel deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. “Every innocent life lost is a tragedy,” the statement added, noting that the incident is under investigation.
“I find the Israeli Prime Minister’s willingness to speak directly with Pope Leo positive,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, in an interview with Italian news programme Tg2 Post.
Netanyahu made the call, during which Leo—according to a Vatican statement—again expressed his concern about the tragic humanitarian situation in Gaza, where children, the elderly, and the sick are paying an agonising price.
The Pope also reiterated the urgent need to protect places of worship and, especially, the faithful and all people in Palestine and Israel.
That it was the Israeli Prime Minister who placed the call is significant. Relations between the Jewish state and the Vatican have been strained since the Gaza war broke out following the 7 October 2023 surprise attack by Hamas militants, which left 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 250 taken hostage.
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