As you read these words, innocent men, women, and children are dying of hunger and thirst in Gaza. Israel is enforcing a lethal artificial famine, with their “aid distribution” apparently just an excuse to gun down as many people as they can. As people starve, tonnes of aid sits untouched in warehouses literally within walking distance of them, with Israel preventing external aid organizations from distributing it.
Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza will go down as one of the greatest crimes against humanity of modern times and, as they say, “one day, everyone will always have been against this”. But by that point, the people of Gaza will just be memories and chunks of bone ground into the dirt by bulldozer tracks.
The time for words is over, even the words of Pope Leo XIV. He was spurred into action over the weekend by Israel’s attack on the Catholic Parish of the Holy Family in Gaza, which killed three worshippers and wounded others. The Vatican – both the current pope and his predecessor, Pope Francis – have maintained close contact with Gaza Catholics (Francis even called them every day to offer them comfort).
As such, Leo took to X to post about his “profound sadness”, not mincing his words when it comes to Israel’s “barbarism”:
Sadly, this act adds to the continuous military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza. I again call for an immediate halt to the barbarism of the war and for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. I renew my appeal to the international community to…
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) July 20, 2025
He concluded with a prayer:
“To our beloved Middle Eastern Christians I say: I deeply sympathise with your feeling that you can do little in the face of this grave situation. You are in the heart of the Pope and of the whole Church. Thank you for your witness of faith. May the Virgin Mary, woman of the Levant, dawn of the new Sun that has risen in history, protect you always and accompany the world towards the dawn of peace.”
Sad words mean nothing now
Prayers are all well and good, but you can’t eat or drink them. As such, there’s a growing chorus building for the Pope to put his money where his mouth is and visit his flock in Gaza in person:
The Pope should go to Gaza, and bring aid in. He should dare the Israelis to block him. Words, no matter how heartfelt, will not save a single starving child. https://t.co/UT9GKHoono
— Mohammad Alsaafin (@malsaafin) July 20, 2025
After all, what is Israel going to do if the Pope arrives to distribute aid? Shoot him? Well… yeah, actually they might. Even so, putting his safety on the line to show he’s backing up his words with action would be a powerful statement. Users agree, saying:
“This Pope has a once in a lifetime opportunity to show the world what The Catholic Church stands for. If he was to lead an actual effort to save the people of Gaza tens of millions would follow him and the movement would be unstoppable.”
There’s desperation in the air that surely someone somewhere has to do something to stop Israel from just exterminating the Gazans:
“It would be huge wouldn’t it? The pope setting off with a caravan of food. Just mind-blowing gesture for the ages. He won’t.”
Sadly, I can only agree that the Pope visiting Gaza definitely won’t happen. With unwavering U.S. backing, Israel can get away with whatever atrocities it wants, up to and including genocide. It’s no consolation that the history books will one day look back on all this as a moral abyss of unimaginable horror, as by then all the people now in Gaza will have been murdered.
