Pope Francis also urged people to pray “especially for the return of the hostages held by Hamas.” (document)
Vatican City:
Pope Francis on Saturday condemned a “dramatic increase in attacks against Jews around the world” and a rise in anti-Semitism since the war in Gaza began on Oct. 7.
“We Catholics are deeply concerned about the horrific increase in attacks against Jews around the world,” the pope wrote in a letter to “my Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel,” which was made public by the Vatican.
Pope Francis said the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has caused “divisive attitudes and divergence of positions in public opinion around the world, sometimes manifesting itself in anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism”.
“We had hoped that ‘never again’ would become the mantra for a new generation, but now we see that the path forward requires even closer collaboration to stamp out these phenomena,” he said.
He also urged people to pray “especially for the return of the hostages held by Hamas” since the unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7. According to AFP statistics based on official Israeli data, the attack killed about 1,160 people, most of them civilians.
Agents also held about 250 hostages, and Israel said 132 remained in Gaza, at least 27 of whom were believed to have been killed.
Israel, vowing to eliminate Hamas, launched a massive military offensive that killed at least 27,238 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.
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