Online: Hope, fear, prayers for Gaza

The official paperwork laying out the first steps toward peace in Gaza was signed on Oct. 13, but doubts and fears – as well as hope – colored the thoughts of Catholic leaders. 

Agence France Presse reported Pope Leo XIV’s call for “courage” as the process unfolds.

“Two years of conflict have left death and destruction everywhere, especially in the hearts of those who have brutally lost their children, their parents, their friends, everything," Leo said. He asked God to help "accomplish what now seems humanly impossible: to rediscover that the other is not an enemy, but a brother to look to, forgive, and offer the hope of reconciliation."

A piece published by National Catholic Reporter noted the horrific human cost of the war between Israel and Hamas, waged mostly in Gaza. 

"The joy is great," said Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity. But that joy was eclipsed by the loss of life. 

"Just remember the children that died there, almost 70,000 civilians died, and to this there is no solution," he said. "Of course, economic and food aid are necessary, but there's a pain there that simply cries out to heaven . . . . Those mothers and fathers, whose children were starving, are an embodiment of those losses.” 

Catholic Reporter published an Our Sunday Visitor story with highlights from a video of the Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family parish in Gaza City. He described the damage to Gaza as a “tsunami” of destruction.

As Gazans began making their way back to their homes, Romanelli described the fears that accompany them.

“There’s the fear that war will return, there’s the fear that the parties won’t respect them, even those who have made commitments,” he said. Those fears come with questions, he added. “OK, now what do we do? How do we do it?”