On Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV renewed his call for a ceasefire in Gaza and lamented the death of Palestinian children, who have been killed by Israeli forces in staggering numbers.
“In the Gaza Strip, the intense cries are reaching Heaven more and more from mothers and fathers who hold tightly to the bodies of their dead children,” Leo said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
His comments came about a week after Gaza’s Health Ministry published a list of 16,506 children killed by the Israeli military in Gaza since October 7, 2023. The list includes 917 babies who didn’t make it to their first birthdays.
Leo, the first US-born pontiff, also noted the forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, saying they are “constantly forced to move in search of some food and safer shelter from the bombardment.”
“To those responsible, I renew my appeal. Stop the fighting, liberate all the hostages, and completely respect humanitarian law,” he added.
The pope also renewed his call for peace in Ukraine, saying that his thoughts often turn to “the Ukrainian people affected by new serious attacks against civilians and infrastructure.”
Leo said he reiterated his “appeal to stop the war and to support every initiative of dialogue and peace” and invited Catholics to join “in prayer for peace in Ukraine and wherever there is suffering because of war.”
Since being elected on May 8, Leo has repeatedly called for peace in Gaza, Ukraine, and other conflict zones around the world, and has put a focus on the issue of war.
“War is never inevitable. Weapons can and must fall silent, for they never solve problems but only intensify them,” the pontiff wrote on X on May 14. “Those who sow peace will endure throughout history, not those who reap victims. Others are not enemies to hate but human beings with whom to speak.”
