Greek and Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Caritas International are among those calling for a lasting ceasefire and increased aid
Catholic leaders from multiple organizations are calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to attacks on Gaza, amid ongoing civilian casualties, famine and threats of forced population transfers.
“We do not know exactly what will happen on the ground, not only for our community, but for the entire population,” said the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in an Aug. 26 joint statement. “We can only repeat what we have already said: There can be no future based on captivity, displacement of Palestinians or revenge.”
The two patriarchates protested Israel’s plans to take control of Gaza City, noting that “in recent days, the media have repeatedly reported a massive military mobilization and preparations for an imminent offensive.”
On Aug. 20, Israel’s military disclosed plans to call up 60,000 reservists ahead of a new offensive in Gaza City.
The Latin and Greek Orthodox patriarchates said that “evacuation orders were already in place for several neighborhoods in Gaza City” — which they noted is home to their shared Christian community — with media reports indicating the population would be moved to southern Gaza.
The patriarchates said the compounds of both the Greek Orthodox St. Porphyrius Church and the Roman Catholic Holy Family Parish “have been a refuge for hundreds of civilians,” including “elderly people, women, and children.”
Holy Family has long been home to persons with disabilities, under the care of the Missionary Sisters of Charity, said the statement.
Both church compounds have previously been struck by Israeli forces — St. Porphyrius in October 2023, and Holy Family in December 2023 and in July of this year. Israel’s military said the strikes were unintentional.
Many of those sheltering at the two compounds “are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months,” and attempting to flee to southern Gaza “would be nothing less than a death sentence,” said the patriarchates. “For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds.”
Pope Leo XIV appealed to Israel and Hamas to stop the violence that has caused “so much terror, destruction and death.”
“I plead for all hostages to be freed, a permanent ceasefire to be reached, the safe entry of humanitarian aid to be facilitated and humanitarian law to be fully respected,” the pope said at the end of his weekly general audience Aug. 27.
The pope said he endorsed the statement made by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Patriarch Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.
The patriarchates’ statement followed an Aug. 25 condemnation issued by Caritas Internationalis, the official humanitarian network of the universal Catholic Church, which said that Gazans are being deliberately starved and “left to perish in full view of the world.”
The organization decried “the man-made famine and assault on Gaza City,” noting that 273 people, including 112 children, have already died of starvation.
On Aug. 22, the International Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC — a global food security metric used by a consortium of hunger relief agencies — formally declared a famine in Gaza, stating the situation was “entirely man-made” and could be “halted and reversed.”
The IPC called for “an immediate, at-scale response,” noting that “any further delay — even by days — will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of famine-related mortality.”
In its statement, Caritas pointed to the United Nations’ endorsement of the IPC findings, saying that “the declaration was not a warning, but a grim confirmation of what humanitarian organisations have been saying for months: Gazans have long endured a deliberate descent into starvation.”
Israel enacted an 11-week blockade of aid starting in March, in an effort to pressure Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked the current war. In late May, aid distribution was resumed under the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a joint initiative of the U.S. and Israel. GHF has drawn international criticism for security concerns surrounding its distribution points. Israel has initiated aid drops into Gaza, but experienced humanitarian groups have described them as dangerous and inefficient.
Caritas issued a list of several demands, including an “immediate and permanent” ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian access and the release of “all hostages and arbitrarily detained civilians.”
The organization also called for a U.N. peacekeeping force to protect civilians, “especially children, women and the elderly.”
US bishops’ president calls for special collection for Catholic aid groups in Gaza
By OSV News
The president of the U.S. bishops’ conference called for a special collection to bolster the Catholic Church’s response to a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as the Israel-Hamas war continues to grind on.
In a letter to his brother bishops, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged them to hold a “special collection to provide humanitarian relief and pastoral support for our affected brothers and sisters in Gaza and surrounding areas in the Middle East” through both Catholic Near East Welfare Association and Catholic Relief Services, the overseas humanitarian relief agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S.
Excerpts of the letter, dated Aug. 12 according to CNEWA, were released by both CNEWA and the USCCB Aug. 20.
“It is with great pastoral concern for the ongoing crisis in Gaza that I write to you today,” the archbishop, who also heads the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, said in his letter. “Our Church mourns the terrible suffering of Christians and other innocent victims of violence in Gaza and surrounding areas who are struggling to survive, protect their children, and live with dignity in dire conditions.”
Archbishop Broglio noted Pope Leo XIV “continues to call for a ceasefire and for aid to enter the territory, noting with great sorrow that ‘Gaza is starving.’”
He said both CNEWA and CRS have well-established partnerships in the region that allow the Catholic Church to deliver aid quickly and efficiently to the Gaza Strip.
