He speaks on the phone every day with the Catholic parish in Gaza, where hundreds of people have taken refuge, Pope Francis said in his first TV news interview, which was broadcast by the Italian public media RAI on Wednesday evening.
According to the Holy Father, every war is considered a defeat, since "with war nothing can be solved, while with peace everything is gain". He called the creation of two states living side by side the wisest solution, and at the same time called for an extraordinary status for the city of Jerusalem.
The head of the Catholic Church said that he speaks daily on the phone with the Holy Family parish church in the Gaza Strip, which is currently led by the deputy parish priest from Egypt, but also has an Argentinian sister serving there, as well as the sisters of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who care for sick children. According to the Pope's information, 536 people found refuge in the parish, including Muslims.
This war also affects us, among other things, because it is taking place in the Holy Land, Pope Francis said. He added that he has fears about the outcome of the conflict.
Regarding the strengthening of anti-Semitism, he believed that since the Holocaust, "anti-Semitism was hidden, but it never went away."
The Catholic parish of the Holy Family mentioned by the Holy Father is located in the northern part of Gaza. Those who serve there and those who flee there are united as a Christian community, they say mass twice a day and pray the rosary countless times for peace and protection.
However, they have also found themselves in a difficult situation, with water and food supplies running low, and the practical difficulties of living and sleeping in a temple for more than three weeks taking their toll.
One of the young men of the group, Suhail Abo Dawod, became a voice of insight and hope for the outside world: he sent short letters that revealed that they want to cling to Christ even in the midst of uncertainty and trials.
In his latest letter, written on Monday, October 30, and published by Vatican News, Abo Dawod admitted that he had "experienced another difficult and harsh day of war in Gaza". However, he took the opportunity to share some "simple spiritual thoughts" away from the political side of the war.
"I firmly believe that this war is a message to all of humanity, to us, to everyone," he wrote. "But I also think that God has a message for our Christian community in Gaza."
"Every cloud has a silver lining," goes the old saying. And Abo Dawod feels that the war offers "a hard lesson in life".
"Perhaps after the war we are all called to love and help each other more as a united family, exactly as Jesus helped and served. We must make sacrifices as Jesus sacrificed himself for us.” Personal attitude and behavior must change after such a difficult period, emphasizes Abo Dawod.
"We will live differently. We will help each other with a uniquely kind heart, serving people in the same way that Jesus healed them of many diseases with his great and beautiful soul," he wrote.
At the end of his letter, the young Catholic recalled a lesson he had already learned after an Israeli airstrike destroyed his earthly residence in Gaza on October 25.
"I see Jesus as my true home. Jesus is my peaceful and loving home in this wild world,” he wrote. Looking ahead, Abo Dawod quoted a thought from Thomas Moore: "There is no sorrow on earth that Heaven cannot heal."
MTI
Cover image: Parish Church of the Holy Family in Gaza
Source: By Dan Palraz – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org
