Pope Francis invited all Catholics to experience “a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world” this Monday, October 7, one year after the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A call to prayer for peace. During the celebration of the opening mass of the Synod, this Wednesday, October 2, Pope Francis called on Catholics around the world to “live a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world.”
The sovereign pontiff spoke at the end of his homily in Saint Peter’s Square, in front of the 368 members of the Synod, which is an assembly open in 2021 to make the Church more participatory, inclusive and less clerical.
Regular prayers for peace
If he did not name a conflict in particular, the date was not chosen at random: a year ago, October 7, 2023, a Hamas offensive left more than 1,200 dead in Israel, triggering a war in the Gaza Strip, and the conflagration of the entire region.
The Pope also deplored “these dramatic hours in our history, while the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to upset peoples and entire nations.”
Pope Francis regularly asks the faithful to join him in his prayer for peace. On October 17, 2023, he established a day of fasting and prayer for peace in the world, after having established on March 2, 2022, a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Ukraine.
