The conflict in Gaza has raged on for a year now, with tremendous human casualties and destruction. To mark the one year anniversary, Pope Francis made a point to pray for the war's end.
If Francis has to entrust something to the Virgin, his stop is always the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where the icon of the patron saint of Rome is located: the Salud Populi Romani.
The Pope went there to pray a rosary, asking for the end of the war, a day after the Gaza conflict reached its one-year anniversary, and for which he called a day of prayer and fasting.
POPE FRANCIS
You who are ready to welcome our sorrows come to our aid in these times oppressed by injustice and ravaged by wars, wipe away the tears on the suffering faces of those who mourn the death of their loved ones, their children awaken us from the slumber that has darkened our path and disarm our hearts from the weapons of violence.
This is not the first time that the pope has called for a day dedicated to praying for an ongoing war. He did so, for example, at the beginning of his pontificate. In September 2013, he gathered thousands of people in St. Peter's Square to pray for an end to the war in Syria. Francis did the same for Congo, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Ukraine or Lebanon.
It is Pope Francis' hope that the atrocities being committed in Gaza come to a stop. Praying the rosary is just one way for the pontiff to express his wish.
