{"id":22392,"date":"2025-10-07T18:04:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T18:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=22392"},"modified":"2025-10-07T18:04:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T18:04:15","slug":"vaticans-top-diplomat-condemns-israels-ongoing-massacre-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=22392","title":{"rendered":"Vatican\u2019s top diplomat condemns Israel\u2019s ‘ongoing massacre’\u00a0in\u00a0Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Vatican’s top diplomat sharply criticised Israel’s “ongoing massacre” in Gaza in comments published on Monday \u2013 one of the Catholic Church’s strongest condemnations of Israel’s war against the militant group Hamas.<\/p>\n

In an interview marking the second anniversary of Hamas\u2019 attack on Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, Cardinal Pietro Parolin called those attacks \u201cinhuman and indefensible\u201d and urged Hamas to release remaining hostages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who are attacked have a right to defend themselves, but even legitimate defence must respect the principle of proportionality,\u201d said Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State and one of Pope Leo\u2019s top deputies.<\/p>\n

Read More: Israel escalating genocide, mass destruction with genocidal intent: Greta Thunberg<\/p>\n

\u201cThe war waged by the Israeli army to eliminate Hamas militants disregards the fact that it is targeting a largely defenceless population, already pushed to the brink, in an area where buildings and homes are reduced to rubble,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is … clear that the international community is, unfortunately, powerless and that the countries truly capable of exerting influence have so far failed to act to stop the ongoing massacre,\u201d Parolin told the Vatican\u2019s media outlets.<\/p>\n

Israeli response <\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s embassy to the Holy See called Parolin\u2019s interview \u201csurely well-intentioned\u201d but lamented that it \u201cfocuses on criticising Israel while overlooking Hamas\u2019 continued refusal to release hostages or stop the violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a post on X on Tuesday, the embassy said it was \u201cproblematic\u201d to use the word \u201cmassacre\u201d to describe both the Hamas attack and Israel\u2019s response, adding that there could be \u201cno moral equivalence\u201d between the two sides.<\/p>\n

Asked about the Israeli statement, Leo stood by Parolin. \u201cI prefer not to comment now. The cardinal has expressed very well what the opinion of the Holy See is,\u201d he told reporters at Castel Gandolfo, a papal residence just outside Rome.<\/p>\n

The Vatican, which has embassies in many capitals, normally uses guarded language in addressing conflicts, preferring to avoid press coverage and operate behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

But Leo, elected in May after the death of Pope Francis, has been stepping up criticism of Israel\u2019s campaign in Gaza. He has urged Israel to let in more aid and raised Gaza in a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in September.<\/p>\n

Also Read: Gaza newborns share oxygen masks as strikes kill women, children in third year of war<\/p>\n

Parolin added: \u201cIt\u2019s not enough to say that what is happening is unacceptable and then continue to allow it to happen. We must seriously ask ourselves about the legitimacy … of continuing to supply weapons that are being used against civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did not name any countries.<\/p>\n

Israel attacked Gaza after the Hamas-led assault in 2023 in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel\u2019s campaign has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Vatican’s top diplomat sharply criticised Israel’s “ongoing massacre” in Gaza in comments published on Monday \u2013 one of the Catholic Church’s strongest condemnations of Israel’s war against the militant group Hamas. In an interview marking the second anniversary of Hamas\u2019 attack on Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, Cardinal Pietro Parolin called those attacks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22392\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}