At the end of the General Audience, Pope Francis described how he felt after meeting with the relatives of people kidnapped by the Hamas as well as with Palestinians who are suffering from the ongoing conflict in Gaza. His statements were direct.
POPE FRANCIS
They suffer so much and I heard how they both suffer. Wars do that. But here we have gone beyond wars. This is no longer war. This is terrorism. Please, let's go forward for peace. Please pray for peace. Pray a lot for peace.
As he said these words in St. Peter's Square, the cameras focused on the group of Palestinians who were present at the audience. The relatives of those kidnapped by Hamas were not in the square. But the Israeli Embassy indicated that their absence was not due to any kind of disagreement with the Pope, but simply because of scheduling reasons.
JRB
TR: AT
