He spoke in Spanish during a speech at the Vatican, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the peace treaty between Chile and Argentina. Pope Francis denounced this Monday “the arrogance of the invader” in Ukraine but also in “Palestine”, a rare stance against Israeli policy. Almost 88 years old, the pope spoke of “the numerous ongoing armed conflicts” and the “very painful tears” that they bring.
“I simply mention two failures of humanity today: Ukraine and Palestine, where people are suffering, where the arrogance of the invader prevails over dialogue,” he said. An improvised sentence that did not appear in his initial speech. Once again castigating the arms trade, Jorge Bergoglio criticized “the hypocrisy of talking about peace while playing at war”. “Dialogue must be the soul of the international community,” he pleaded before diplomats and religious representatives.
He has just received ex-Israeli hostages
Francis regularly prays for the population of “martyred” Ukraine and Gaza, as well as for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas since the attack launched by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7, 2023. On November 14, he had also received at the Vatican 16 former Israeli hostages from Hamas. At the end of September, the Argentine Jesuit had already denounced an “immoral” use of force in Lebanon and Gaza, seeming to call on Israel to exercise restraint.
But this is the first time that the head of the Catholic Church has publicly denounced Israeli policy towards the Palestinian territories in these terms.
Asked by AFP, the Vatican indicated that it did not wish to comment. This statement comes a week after the publication of a book (Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims towards a better world) where Francis invites us to “study carefully” whether the situation in Gaza “corresponds to the technical definition” of genocide, an accusation firmly rejected by Israel.
The Holy See has recognized the State of Palestine since 2013, with which it maintains diplomatic relations, and supports the two-state solution.
Swiss
