Israel war and Zionist policy of expansionism continue against the people of Palestine forcing Pope Francis again to condemn Israeli airstrikes of exterminating the population in Gaza, a genocide by all definitions of the textbook, a day after an Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff for suggesting the global community should study whether the military offensive there constitutes a “genocide” of the Palestinian people.
His Holiness Pope Francis opened his annual Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals who lead the Vatican’s various departments with what appeared to be a reference to Israeli airstrikes on Friday.
On Friday, December 20, 2024, Pope Francis received UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the Vatican. After a 40-minute meeting, the two recorded a joint video message to the world, stressing the urgent need for the world to address various problems facing the world.
“It is good that this meeting of ours takes place in the days leading up to Christmas,” the Pope said as Guterres stood beside him. “These are days when our eyes are turned to heaven to entrust to God the people and situations we hold most dear. In this gaze, we recognize ourselves as children of one Father, brothers and sisters.”
His Holiness Pope Francis called on the people of the world not to close their eyes in a situation of the many wounds afflicting mankind but to unite and work to build a harmonious and peaceful world. “We cannot and we must not look the other way in the face of injustice, inequality, the scandal of hunger in the world, of poverty, of children who die because they lack water, food, and necessary healthcare,” he said.
His Holiness spoke of the plight of refugees, forced to leave their countries because of conflicts, violence, poverty, or the victims of climate change, the greed of profiteers, and who often face grim prospects and suspect welcomes. He urged the world not to be indifferent to the wars that continue to be fought and that kill so many innocent people.
The world must unite, His Holiness added, to fight against every kind of abuse of children and to overcome indifference in the face of attacks against human dignity and human life, including the unborn.
His Holiness Pope Francis also summoned the international community not to look the other way when believers of various faiths are persecuted. “The use of religion to incite hatred, violence, oppression, extremism, and blind fanaticism, as well as to force people into exile and marginalization, cries out for vengeance before God.
His Holiness Pope Francis called on the people of the world not to close their eyes to the situation of the many wounds afflicting mankind but to unite and work to build a harmonious and peaceful world. “We cannot and we must not look the other way in the face of injustice, inequality, the scandal of hunger in the world, of poverty, of children who die because they lack water, food, and necessary healthcare,” he said.
His Holiness spoke of the plight of refugees, forced to leave their countries because of conflicts, violence, poverty, or the victims of the greed of the profiteers and climate change, often facing grim prospects and suspect welcomes. He urged the world not to be indifferent to the wars that continue to be fought and that kill so many innocent people.
The world must unite, he added, to fight against every kind of abuse of children and to overcome indifference in the,” he stated.
His Holiness condemned the arms race and nuclear rearmament, calling the possession and use of nuclear arms “immoral” and a “grim threat to humanity.” Dialogue, diplomacy, multilateralism, and international organizations are mechanisms through which the world must build peace and strengthen understanding between people and between nations.
His Holiness Pope Francis also spoke of care for our common home. The world must, he said, “take care of our land which, generation after generation, has been entrusted to our custody by God so that we may cultivate it and hand it over to our children.” He stressed the urgent need for commitment to foster an integral ecology and reduce carbon emissions, underlining, “Let us do something before it is too late!”
His Highness Pope Francis on Saturday condemned the bombing of children in Gaza as “cruelty,” a day after the territory’s rescue agency said an Israeli airstrike killing seven children from one family.
Gaza’s civil defense rescue agency reported that an Israeli air strike killed 10 members of a family on Friday in the northern part of the territory, including seven children.
“Yesterday they did not allow the Patriarch (of Jerusalem) into Gaza as promised. Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war,” he told members of the government of the Holy See. His Holiness Pope Francis said: “I want to say it because it touches my heart.”
The pope, as leader of the 1.4-billion Roman Catholic Church respected all across the world, is usually careful about taking a position in conflicts but the scale of the barbarity of Israeli expansionism by terminating the local Palestine population and using all the tactics of genocide and extermination the innocent population by about Israeli government forced even him to speak out.
After His Holiness Pope Francis's statement on Gaza and a joint statement by the Pope and the UN Secretary-General, Israel forces killed at least 21 Palestinians and 61 others injured by an indiscriminate bombing across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry
His Holiness the Pope concluded the joint video message, reminding the world that “Christmas reminds us that what really counts in life is love."
In his remarks, UN Secretary-General Guterres, highlighted the “clear moral voice” of the Pope on issues that are at the very heart of the United Nations mandate. “You are a messenger for hope and humanity – for reducing human suffering and promoting human dignity,” he said.
He thanked Holy See for its “exceptional global engagement and strong support for the work of the United Nations” and mentioned in particular the pontiff’s visit to UN headquarters in 2015, the year the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals were adopted.
No comments:
Post a Comment