(Vatican City) Pope Francis castigated Monday, in a letter to Catholics in the Middle East a year after the massacres of October 7 and Israel’s military response in Gaza, the “shameful incapacity” of the great powers to obtain a ceasefire in the region.
“A year ago, the fuse of hatred was lit. It did not die out, but ignited in a spiral of violence” made possible by “the shameful incapacity of the international community and the most powerful countries to silence the weapons and put an end to the tragedy of war,” wrote the sovereign pontiff.
The Argentine Jesuit called for a day of prayer and fasting this Monday, a year after the Hamas attacks in Israel, at a time when the Middle East is on the verge of conflagration with the opening of a new front against Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iranian attack on Israel.
Since October 7, 2023, Francis has continued to urge a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas.
“I never tire of repeating that war is a defeat, that weapons do not build the future, but destroy it, that violence never brings peace. History demonstrates this and yet, years and years of conflict seem to have taught us nothing,” the pope lamented in his letter to Catholics.