Vatican Secretary of State marks Oct. 7 anniversary, decries ‘spiral of hatred and violence’ in Gaza
Caroline MolloyThe Holy See’s official news outlet marked the second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the beginning of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza with an interview in which Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin decried the terrorist attack and the bloodshed that has followed.
Cardinal Parolin began by repeating his past condemnations of the “inhuman and indefensible” terrorist attack Hamas perpetrated in the Oct. 7 surprise attack, which took the lives of some 1,200 people, including over 700 civilians, among them women and children.
“The brutal violence against children, women, young people, the elderly — there can be no justification for it. It was a shameful and, I repeat, inhuman massacre,” Cardinal Parolin said. “The Holy See immediately expressed its total and firm condemnation, calling for the immediate release of the hostages and showing closeness to the families affected by the terrorist attack.”
“We prayed,” he added, “and continue to pray, and we continue to ask that this perverse spiral of hatred and violence, which risks dragging us into an abyss with no return, come to an end.”
The cardinal’s comments come as the world awaits the potential finalization of a 20-point peace deal backed by the U.S. and agreed upon both by Arab nations and by Israel. Hamas announced its willingness to negotiate along the lines of the deal late last week, at which point President Donald Trump called for Israel to “immediately” stop its military operations in Gaza.
Massive protests broke out in Tel-Aviv Saturday, Oct. 4, with Israeli demonstrators pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to thwart the deal as reports spread of continued strikes during the two days after Trump called for them to stop. Trump has signaled his support for the protests, adding to the mounting international pressure on Netanyahu to cooperate with efforts to end the conflict.
As CatholicVote reported, Ruby Chen, “the father of the late 19-year-old Israeli-U.S. dual citizen Itay Chen, supports the peace deal and has put pressure on Netanyahu to abide by it. Itay Chen was murdered by Hamas militants after being taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023.”
“We went to sleep yesterday with cautious optimism after many months of deadlock,” the elder Chen stated Saturday. “Now it is on PM Netanyahu to show the same conviction to provide the Israeli negotiation team with a mandate to seal the deal.”
Chen had also posted, in agreement with Trump, “that Israel should stop bombing Gaza to create the infrastructure to release the hostages safely.”
