Pope Francis’s key statements on Gaza and the ongoing genocide
Pope Francis embraces Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, November 2021
Romana Rubeo reports in The Palestine Chronicle on 21 April 2025:
Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday morning at the age of 88, was the first Jesuit and the first Latin American pontiff.
In the final years of his papacy, he consistently spoke out about the war in Gaza, expressing concern for civilians and calling for peace and humanitarian access. Since October 9, 2023, Pope Francis has been calling Gaza’s Holy Family Parish every evening—brief conversations at 7 PM, marked by simple, human questions: “How are you?” “What did you eat?”
These nightly calls, as reported by Vatican News, offered a vital sense of connection and comfort to the more than 600 people, both Christians and Muslims, sheltering in the parish’s church and school. He always ended with a blessing, making the sign of the cross and saying, “Muchas gracias, grazie tante.”
But the Pope’s compassion extended beyond personal gestures. From the outset of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, he steadily increased his public condemnation.
In January 2025, he called the humanitarian crisis in Gaza “very serious and shameful” and firmly stated: “We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians … that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed.”
Weeks earlier, he had suggested the international community must ask whether Israel’s military campaign amounted to genocide—a remark that drew sharp criticism from Israeli officials, who accused him of antisemitism.
The following timeline highlights the most significant public statements Pope Francis made on Gaza:
‘War is a Defeat’
On October 29, 2023, during his Angelus address, Pope Francis called for a ceasefire in Gaza. He urged for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza and for all captives to be freed. He emphasized that “War is always a defeat! Every war is a defeat!”