The Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, headed to Gaza and met local Christians following Thursday’s strike [GETTY]
Two of the most senior Christian leaders in Jerusalem travelled to Gaza on Friday after Israeli fire killed three at the Palestinian territory’s only Catholic church, provoking international condemnation.
The Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, headed to Gaza and met local Christians following Thursday’s strike.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the highest-ranking Catholic official in Jerusalem, entered Gaza on Friday to bring humanitarian aid and comfort to victims of Israel’s strike on the sole Catholic church of the Palestinian enclave.
They visited both the Holy Family Church and the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in what the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem called “the shared pastoral solicitude of the Churches of the Holy Land and their concern for the community of Gaza”.
Three people died and several were injured in the strike on the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City a day earlier. Photos released by the church showed its roof had been hit close to the main cross, scorching the stone facade, and that windows had been broken.
The church has offered shelter to hundreds of Palestinians since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
In an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily, Pizzaballa said a Catholic presence would remain in Gaza “whatever happens,” and expressed doubts about Israel’s comments that the strike was a mistake.
“We are not a target. They say it was an error. Even if everybody here believes it wasn’t,” the cardinal said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday blamed “stray ammunition” and said his country was “investigating the incident and remains committed to protecting civilians and holy sites.”
Netanyahu called Pope Leo on Friday, the Vatican said.
In the conversation, Leo renewed appeals for a ceasefire and an end to the war, called for the protection of civilians and places of worship, and expressed fresh concern for “the dramatic humanitarian situation” in Gaza, according to a statement.
There was no immediate readout from the office of Netanyahu, who also discussed the incident with US President Donald Trump. Trump’s reaction to the strike was “not a positive” one, the White House said.
It is extremely rare for foreign officials to be allowed entry into Gaza, as Israel has essentially sealed its borders. Pizzaballa was accompanied by Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.
The two religious leaders brought “hundreds of tons of food supplies as well as first aid kits and urgently needed medical equipment,” Pizzaballa’s Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.
The aid is meant not only for Gaza’s small Christian community but for “as many families as possible”, the Patriarchate said, adding it also ensured the evacuation of those injured in the church strike.
The pope, who on Thursday said he was “deeply saddened” by the attack but declined to blame Israel for it, called the cardinal and Theophilos on Friday to convey support for their mission, Pizzaballa told Vatican media.
The pope expressed his love and affection for the Gaza parish community “and reiterated his intention to do everything possible to stop the needless slaughter of innocents,” the Vatican said.
