Pope condemns terrorism, expresses concern for Gaza civilians

by CNS · October 11, 2023

Pope Francis greets a little girl who was lifted over the barrier by her parents after his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 11, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

By Cindy Wooden, CNS – Pope Francis condemned Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel and pleaded with the militants to free their hostages unharmed, but he also expressed concern about Israel’s tightening siege on Gaza and its impact on innocent civilians.

“I continue to follow with sorrow and apprehension what is happening in Israel and Palestine. So many people killed, and others injured,” the pope said on Oct. 11 at the end of his weekly general audience.

“And I ask that the hostages be released immediately,” he continued. Israeli government officials have estimated that Hamas is holding some 150 Israeli hostages.

“One who is attacked has the right of self-defence,” the pope said, “but I am very concerned about the total siege under which Palestinians are living in Gaza, where there also have been many innocent victims.”

Continuing a series of audience talks highlighting saints who demonstrate zeal or passion for evangelisation, Pope Francis said St Josephine Bakhita’s life story shows how “forgiveness is the wellspring of a zeal that becomes mercy and calls us to a humble and joyful holiness.

Pope Francis greets a child as he rides in the popemobile around St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican before his weekly general audience Oct. 11, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

St Bakhita, a former slave from Sudan who became a nun, demonstrates how love liberates people from oppression and frees them to forgive their oppressors and break cycles of hatred and violence, Pope Francis said.

“Often a wounded person wounds in turn; the oppressed easily becomes an oppressor,” the pope said Oct. 11 at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

In contrast, he said, St Bakhita teaches people that “forgiveness takes away nothing but adds dignity to the person; it makes us lift our gaze from ourselves toward others, to see them as fragile as we are, yet always brothers and sisters in the Lord.”

“Forgiveness liberated her,” the pope said. “Forgiveness first received through God’s merciful love, and then the forgiveness given that made her a free, joyful woman, capable of loving.”