Gaza’s humanitarian crisis ‘extremely grave’: Pope Francis reacts

In his Christmas message, Pope Francis said that the refugee situation in Gaza was “extremely grave” and asked for “the doors of dialogue and peace to be flung open.”

Israel has been killing Palestinians and committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza since October 2023, claiming the lives of at least 45,300 people, including over 17,400 children. The 88-year-old pope gave a speech on Wednesday.

On his 12th Christmas as pope, Pope Francis also talked on the phone with Palestinian Christians in Gaza, bringing attention to their situation as they are in danger of dying out.

As the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Pope Francis has spoken out more strongly against the Israeli government, asking for an immediate end to the fighting and better access for aid workers to Gaza.

On Christmas, he asked for help in other world crises, such as Sudan’s 20-month civil war that has left millions starving.

During his Christmas speech last week, the Pope said that killing children in Gaza was “cruelty.”

He was talking about the Israeli bombing on December 21 that killed ten family members, seven of them children. He stated, “We bombed children yesterday.” Kindness, not war, is what this is. It makes me feel something, so I want to say it.

The pope talked about Gaza’s historical importance, calling it a “quite ancient city” that has come to mean “death and destruction.”

He also thought about Gaza’s early Christian history, saying that “monasteries and outstanding saints and teachers flourished.”

Pope Francis called for peace again in a message on November 17. He told world leaders to listen to “the cry of the people who are asking for peace.”

In March of this year, he said that he hoped “Christ would open a path of peace for the war-torn peoples of those regions” and asked again for Gaza to get unrestricted humanitarian aid.