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Muslim cemeteries have opened to receive the bodies of Christians and give them a dignified burial.
“Dear brothers and sisters, allow me to tell you once more that you are not alone. We will never leave you alone,” the pope wrote in his Holy Wednesday letter.
The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need reported that the Christian community in Gaza “is going through the worst period” since the start of the war.
The Vatican has overseen the Pontifical Collection for the Holy Land since 1974. Last year it raised more than $7 million.
In his Angelus address on March 3, the pope made an emotional plea for a deal that both frees the hostages and grants humanitarian aid.
Sean Callahan said he was able to witness the countless displaced individuals and families that have struggled in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas conflict began.
In a letter addressed to “my Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel" and released today, Pope Francis lamented the “terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world” that has taken place since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last October.
The Magi made their appearance for the recitation of the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, marking the conclusion of the solemnity and also the end of the Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, urged the faithful "to cherish the desire for encounter, to cultivate freedom in relation to all, to overcome ethnic, religious, and identity boundaries."
For Zubair Simonson, Hamas’ propaganda efforts do great harm to the Palestinian people, who end up paying the price of the war with their innocent blood.
Father Patrick Desbois said in an interview this week that “if he had been born today, Jesus would be a target of missiles or a hostage in Gaza.”
The weekend before Christmas began with an evening of prayer and music at the Church of St. Saviour, the Latin parish of Jerusalem.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who serves as the papal almoner, will spend Christmas in Jerusalem, where he will join the local Christian community in praying for peace.
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia militant group in Lebanon, began attacking Israel at the Israeli-Lebanese border following the beginning of the conflict.
Stephen Cardinal Brislin has called for prayer for an end to the Israel-Hamas war following the reported December 16 attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza and on the Centre for Disabled Children, which the Missionaries of Charity run within the Parish compound.
The pope made his remarks in a Saturday morning audience in Paul VI Hall with two delegations who donated the Christmas tree and Nativity scene.
Pope Francis, for the second consecutive Sunday, was assisted by an aide in praying the Angelus, as he continues to recover from an acute bronchial infection.
The West Bank remains “a huge prison” where people cannot move to get basic services, and Gaza is reeling in a deep humanitarian crisis, a Caritas official has said, noting that staff of the charity arm of the Church who are based in the two zones are unable to provide any help to those affected by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
During this week’s Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis spoke not from the window of the Apostolic Palace but via livestream from Casa Santa Marta.
The strands of lights are falling down one after another, forming a kind of curtain of threads in front of the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Following the municipality’s decision to suspend Christmas events and remove decorations, workers are busy dismantling the light canopy on Nativity Square and at other locations in the city.