Pope Francis' last plea for Peace

Muriel Pearson asks "who will call for a future of peace" after the death of Pope Francis.

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Many stories have been told about the piety and pastoral faithfulness of the late Pope Francis, but the story of his almost nightly conversations with Father Romanelli and the people of Holy Family Church in Gaza gives insight not only into Pope Francis and his priorities, but also makes visible the almost total lack of intervention by other world leaders.

Even when he was in hospital, Francis still phoned the little community of the faithful sheltering in the church. The number of Christians in Gaza was small to begin with, around a thousand, and has halved since bombardment began such a long time ago.

The congregation of Holy Family Church, Gaza with Father Romanelli

Francis would ask what they had eaten and would assure them of his prayers, even as he asked the people to pray for him. In an interview with Vatican News, the parish priest in Gaza, Father Romanelli said, “We continue to pray for Pope Francis and to praise God for the great gift of his person. Pope Francis was a shepherd who loved and followed, as we all know, our small community—praying and working for peace. We hope that the appeals he made, including the last one he had the strength to issue just hours before his passing, will be heard: that the bombs stop, that this war ends, that hostages and prisoners be freed, and that humanitarian aid to the population can resume and be delivered consistently.”[1]

Much has been made of the last public utterance of the Pope, wishing those gathered in the square before him a blessed Easter, but his message to the world, the Urbi et Orbi, has had less coverage.

The Pope wrote:

I would like us to renew our hope that peace is possible! From the Holy Sepulchre, the Church of the Resurrection, where this year Easter is being celebrated by Catholics and Orthodox on the same day, may the light of peace radiate throughout the Holy Land and the entire world. I express my closeness to the sufferings of Christians in Palestine and Israel, and to all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. The growing climate of anti-Semitism throughout the world is worrisome. Yet at the same time, I think of the people of Gaza, and its Christian community in particular, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation. I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace![2]

He went on to draw attention to the dangers of a renewed arms race:

There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others.

Nor is peace possible without true disarmament! The requirement that every people provide for its own defence must not turn into a race to rearmament. The light of Easter impels us to break down the barriers that create division and are fraught with grave political and economic consequences. It impels us to care for one another, to increase our mutual solidarity, and to work for the integral development of each human person.[3]

Many leaders from around the globe and many faith leaders attended the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome on Saturday 26th April. In Israel the withdrawal of an expression of condolence and the attendance at the funeral of the Israeli ambassador to the Vatican rather than President or Prime Minister of Israel has been noted. Ha’aretz, in an editorial, pointed out that a total of 12 kings, 52 heads of state and 14 prime ministers attended the funeral mass, and that Israel stood alone.

The editorial opined:

‘Francis, the spiritual leader of more than 1 billion people worldwide, was a controversial pope within and outside the Catholic Church for several reasons.

Even if the government had some reservations regarding his statements about the war in Gaza due to his sharp opposition to the war continuing and his repeated calls to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, its conduct still has no justification.’[4]

There has been a blockade on all humanitarian aid entering Gaza since early March. Both the World Food Programme and the UN, who have truckloads waiting for permission to enter Gaza, have warned that food has run out.[5]

Remarkably, the Gazan people are not asking to leave Gaza in large numbers, to be set free from their ‘giant cage’, as Fr. Romanelli describes it.

In Israel, demonstrations against the renewed assault on Gaza in Israel have continued. Support for the hostages and their families remains a chief concern, but more demonstrators are choosing to hold up photographs of dead Palestinian children, showing some awareness and concern. But not enough.

And world leaders are still not bringing to bear pressure on Israel, but continue to supply weapons and logistics, facilitating starvation and daily deaths from ongoing air strikes.

At this point it seems we are all complicit in genocide.

How can it be that the strongest voice raised against this horror belonged to an old, sick man, struggling to breathe? Pope Francis, who knew from his nightly calls what the reality is inside Gaza, can no longer call for ceasefire and hostage release and real negotiation. Who will call for a future of peace now?