Church of the Holy Family interior by Dan Palraz / Wikimedia Commons
Pope Leo XIV spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone July 18, urging a ceasefire one day after an Israeli strike hit Gaza’s only Catholic parish, killing three and injuring several others.
During the conversation, the Holy Father expressed deep concern over the attack on Holy Family Catholic Church and emphasized “the urgent need to protect places of worship and, especially, the faithful and all people in Palestine and Israel,” according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office.
He also voiced “his concern about the tragic humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza, whose children, elderly, and sick are paying an agonizing price.”
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, decried the strike as a “targeting of innocent civilians and of a sacred place” in a July 17 statement.
He noted that the church compound had become a refuge for civilians seeking safety amid the ongoing devastation. As CatholicVote reported July 18, the parish shelters around 500 people, including both Christians and non-Christians.
“The people in the Holy Family Compound are people who found in the Church a sanctuary — hoping that the horrors of war might at least spare their lives,” the cardinal said, “after their homes, possessions, and dignity had already been stripped away.”
Since the war began in 2023, the parish has provided shelter, humanitarian aid, and faithfully ministered the Sacraments.
>> ‘This absurd war must stop’: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemns strike on Gaza church <<
Cardinal Pizzaballa emphasized that this was just one among many tragedies in Gaza.
“[T]his tragedy is not greater or more terrible than the many others that have befallen Gaza. Many other innocent civilians have also been harmed, displaced and killed,” he said in the July 17 statement. “Death, suffering and destruction are everywhere.”
He urged leaders “to raise their voices and to do all what is necessary in order to stop this tragedy, which is humanly and morally unjustified.”
Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have insisted the strike was a mistake caused by “stray ammunition.”
However, in a July 18 interview with Corriere della, Cardinal Pizzaballa said that “everyone” in Gaza believes it was intentional, according to the July 18 CatholicVote report.
“They say it was a mistake. Even though everyone here believes it wasn’t,” the Cardinal said. “In fact, it looks like they hit from the ground with a tank.”
On July 18, Cardinal Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III visited Gaza, leading an ecclesiastical delegation to the Holy Family Church compound. They offered prayers, humanitarian aid, and solidarity to all impacted by the strike.
One photo circulating online shows Cardinal Pizzaballa praying the rosary alongside children inside the church.
The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) also joined calls for an immediate end to the fighting. Pope Leo has consistently advocated for peace in Gaza. His predecessor, the late Pope Francis, was known to call the Holy Family parish frequently after the war began.
