Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, and Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0/Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 18, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV received a phone call Friday from Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, following yesterday’s Israeli army attack on Holy Family Church in Gaza.

According to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, the pope received the call at Castel Gandolfo, where he is on vacation.

On July 17, the Israeli army struck with a projectile Holy Family Parish, the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, which had been used as a shelter for more than 600 people since the beginning of the war in October 2023.

The attack killed three people and left a number of injured, some of them seriously.

During the conversation, the Holy Father renewed his call for the urgent reactivation of the negotiation process in order to establish a ceasefire and end the war.

He again expressed his deep concern for the humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza, “whose heartbreaking price is being paid, in particular, by children, the elderly, and the sick.”

Finally, Pope Leo XIV reiterated the urgency of protecting places of worship and, above all, the faithful and all people living in both Palestine and Israel.

Also on Friday, the Holy Father called Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, to whom he expressed his strong condemnation of the attack and asserted that “it is time to stop this slaughter.”

Israel Defense Forces stated that “fragments of a projectile fired during a military operation in the area mistakenly hit the church” and that the cause of the incident is currently under investigation.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Pope Leo XIV, who urged Israel's leader to revive negotiations and enact a ceasefire.

The morning call to the pope's summer residence at Castel Gandolfo July 18 came the day after the Israeli army struck the Holy Family Church compound, the only Catholic Church in the Gaza Strip. At least three people were killed and 10 more were injured from the shelling and falling debris, including the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli.

"During the conversation, the Holy Father renewed his call for renewed momentum for negotiation efforts and for a ceasefire and an end to the war," the Vatican press office said in a communique.

"He again expressed his concern for the tragic humanitarian situation of the people in Gaza, a heartbreaking price being paid especially by children, the elderly and the sick," it said. 

"Finally, the Holy Father reiterated the urgency of protecting places of worship and especially the faithful and all people in Palestine and Israel," the communique said.

The pope had called for an immediate ceasefire, dialogue and peace in the region in a telegram July 16.

About 600 men, women and children had been sheltering at the church, including about 50 people with disabilities and ill children cared for by the Missionaries of Charity, when the early morning raid hit the church.

Pope Leo also telephoned Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, July 18, telling him, "It is time to stop this slaughter," Vatican News reported.

Cardinal Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem were leading a delegation into Gaza to bring hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

As they were crossing the border, Pope Leo telephoned the cardinal to "express his closeness, love, prayer, support and desire to do everything possible for there to be not only a ceasefire but also an end to this tragedy," the cardinal told Vatican News.

"Pope Leo said repeatedly that it is time to stop this slaughter, and that what has happened is unjustifiable, and that we must ensure there are no more victims," he said. 

The Vatican press office said the pope also told the cardinal that he intends to do "everything possible to stop the needless slaughter of innocents."

"With the patriarch (Cardinal Pizzaballa), the pope turned his thoughts to all the innocent victims, those of yesterday's attack and all those of this time of sorrow in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East," the press office said in a brief statement.

The pope also asked the cardinal about those who had been injured in the attack and their condition, it said.

Pope Leo then telephoned Father Carlos Ferrero, the provincial superior of the Institute of the Incarnate Word -- the religious order Father Romanelli belongs to -- to express "his closeness to those in the community -- faithful and religious -- who were with him."

The pope "assures everyone of his prayers and unceasing commitment to peace, the only way that protects humanity on all sides," it said.

Everyone in Gaza "will not be forgotten, nor will they be abandoned," the patriarchate said in a written statement July 18. 

"In the aftermath of the grievous strike on the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza," Cardinal Pizzaballa and Beatitude Theophilos entered Gaza as part of a church delegation, "expressing the shared pastoral solicitude of the churches of the Holy Land and their concern for the community of Gaza," it said.

"At the request of the Latin patriarchate, and in coordination with humanitarian partners, access was secured for the delivery of essential assistance not only to the Christian community but also to as many families as possible," it said.

"This includes hundreds of tons of food supplies as well as first aid kits and urgently needed medical equipment. In addition, the patriarchate ensured the evacuation of individuals injured in the attack to medical institutions outside Gaza where they will receive care," it added.

"During their stay, the delegation will meet with members of the local Christian community, offer condolences and solidarity, and stand alongside those affected by the recent events," the statement said. The cardinal "will personally assess the humanitarian and pastoral needs of the community, to help guide the church's continued presence and response."

"We thank His Holiness Pope Leo XIV who called Cardinal Pizzaballa and Patriarch Theophilos upon entrance to Gaza to offer his support, closeness and prayers," the patriarchate said.

"We pray for the safety of the delegation and the suspension of military activities during the visit," it added.

"The Latin Patriarchate remains steadfast in its commitment to the Christian community and the entire population of Gaza. They will not be forgotten, nor will they be abandoned."
 

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III visit the area around the Holy Family Church in Gaza City July 18, 2025. (CNS photo/courtesy Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

Father Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family Church, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III visit the Holy Family Church in Gaza City July 18, 2025, the day after it was struck by the Israeli army in a deadly attack. (CNS photo/courtesy Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, visits people in a medical facility in Gaza City July 18, 2025. (CNS photo/courtesy Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem (right), lights a candle July 18, 2025, while visiting people taking refuge in churches and nearby medical facilities in Gaza City. (CNS photo/courtesy Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem (the third standing in the front), Father Gabriel Romanelli (right of the cardinal) and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III (the first in the front) pose for a photograph in front of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius July 18, 2025, while visiting people taking refuge in churches in Gaza City. (CNS photo/courtesy Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Father Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family Church, and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III pose for a photograph in front of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius July 18, 2025, while visiting people taking refuge in churches in Gaza City. (CNS photo/courtesy Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

Holy Mass at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, led by the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli during the Advent season. December 2024. / Courtesy of Father Gabriel Romanelli

Vatican City, Jul 17, 2025 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

Father Yusuf Asad, 49, who has been the assistant parochial vicar at Holy Family Church in Gaza for six years, had just celebrated morning Mass when a loud bang sounded. At around 10:20 a.m. local time, a projectile hit the building. 

“It fell directly on the roof. The explosion occurred next to the cross atop the church and soon scattered shrapnel throughout the courtyard,” Anton Asfar, director of Caritas Jerusalem, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. He received a call from Gaza shortly after the attack alerting him to the incident.

“It was later clarified to us that at the time of the explosion, there were some people in the courtyard outside, even though Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor, had warned everyone to stay inside,” he explained.

Still shaken, he added: “Without Father Romanelli's warnings to stay inside, we could have lost 50 or 60 people. It would have been a massacre.”

The parish compound consists of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, a school, a convent, a multipurpose center, and a Missionaries of Charity building. At the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, it became a makeshift shelter for more than 500 displaced people.

The majority are Orthodox Christians, Protestants, and Catholics, but there are also more than 50 Muslim children with disabilities living there with their families.

“We are assessing the situation together with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem to understand what has happened. People are in shock,” he said.

He explained that the Israeli army issues an evacuation or displacement order every day. “There is a constant threat. Two Sundays ago, there was an evacuation order for the residential neighborhood of al-Zaytun,” where the parish is located in Gaza City, he added.

In fact, the attacks have intensified in recent weeks, and bombs have continuously fallen on the surroundings of this parish.

‘There are no safe areas in Gaza’

“It is very difficult to move people. Everyone is determined to stay in the churches and continue taking refuge there. But the truth is that there are no safe areas in Gaza anymore,” he lamented.

So far, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has confirmed three deaths. They are Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, 60, who was the parish maintenance manager and was in the courtyard at the time of the explosion.

The other two fatalities are Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, an 84-year-old woman, and Najwa Abu Daoud, 70, who were receiving psychological care at the time inside the tent of the Caritas psycho-social support project.

“People were terrified when the evacuation of the wounded to the hospital began. Father Gabriel [Romanelli] was also taken because he had a minor leg injury, but he is out of danger,” Asfar confirmed.

In addition to the Argentine priest from the Institute of the Incarnate Word, eight other people were injured and rushed to Al Mamadami Hospital, just one kilometer (.62 miles) from the church. But the bombings have also pushed to the limit the capacity of health centers, with no electricity or medical supplies. “There is no medicine, no drinking water. There is a severe shortage of fuel, which is essential for hospitals and medical centers,” he pointed out.

The Gaza Interim Foundation is not enough 

The last significant influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza occurred more than four months ago.

“Nothing has entered since March 2. Only small amounts of aid. The only active operation is the Gaza Interim Foundation, but it’s not enough. Four centers cannot replace the 400 distribution points that existed during the truce,” Asfar noted.

Furthermore, the management of this organization, also known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), — created in February 2025 and supported by the United States and Israel — has raised growing suspicions that it has turned food distribution into a weapon of war. According to UN figures, more than 400 Gazans have already died at GHF aid distribution points.

The humanitarian situation is dire. Caritas currently has more than 120 staff operating in Gaza, spread across ten medical centers, but resources are dwindling. The borders remain closed, which has put the population in a desperate situation. “People are dying of hunger. All the children are suffering from malnutrition,” the director of Caritas Jerusalem warned.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Archbishop Gabriele Caccia. / Credit: Holy See Mission to the United Nations

Vatican City, Jul 17, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

The permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, participated in this week’s ‘High-Level Political Forum’ with two speeches at UN headquarters in New York.

The July 13-15 event focused on the UN’s sustainable development goals, according to Vatican News. In particular, Caccia addressed Goal 3, which seeks to guarantee access to healthcare, and Goal 5, on "gender equality and empowering women."

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an action plan approved by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. It is structured around 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets to be achieved within a 15-year period.

Among these goals are "No poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, affordable and clean energy, gender equality, and reduced inequalities." While many of these goals enjoy broad Catholic support, some also engender controversy in aspects which conflict with the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

Access to basic medical care

In his first address, Caccia denounced inequalities in access to medical services and highlighted the need to raise awareness about mental health, the source of many problems that are often hidden.

"These inequalities are evident in the millions of people who still lack access to basic medical care, in the stagnant maternal mortality rates, and in the silent suffering of those suffering from untreated mental illness," he stated.

He also stressed that health should not be understood solely as "the absence of illness" and reiterated the right to health for all people, proposing the implementation of "integrated policies" that recognize the link between health and other dimensions such as poverty and education.

In this regard, he urged the protection of the most vulnerable, especially children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and victims of war.

The importance of the family

During his second address, the permanent observer of the Holy See to the UN referred to the Dignitas Infinita declaration and recalled that true equality between men and women requires conditions that promote "the integral development of women," such as healthcare, decent work, and quality education.

Caccia also rejected ideological agendas and denounced that "too often, the development efforts of the international community treat gender equality primarily as a matter of individual autonomy, divorced from relationships and responsibilities."

He advocated for a change in perspective that values "the complementarity between men and women," emphasizing the importance of families as a "space for relationships."

"In tandem with promoting equality between women and men, measures must be taken to support and protect families, motherhood, and fatherhood," he emphasized.

The Vatican official also denounced the ecological debt that is suffocating a large portion of the least developed African countries; and highlighted that "the persistent and widespread reality of poverty continues to afflict millions of people, denying them material well-being and undermining their God-given dignity, while stifling their integral human development."

Therefore, he emphasized that poverty must remain "the central and urgent priority of the international community."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Father Gabriel Romanelli with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, celebrating Christmas Mass at Holy Family Parish in Gaza, in December 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Vatican City, Jul 17, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

The Holy Family Church in Gaza was hit Thursday amid a new wave of Israeli bombings, leaving several people dead and injured, including the church’s pastor, Gabriel Romanelli, a native of Argentina.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem confirmed the incident in an official statement. The attack left three dead, according to Caritas Jerusalem.

One of the victims was Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, 60, the parish's maintenance manager who was in the courtyard at the time of the explosion. The other two fatalities were Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, an 84-year-old woman, and Najwa Abu Daoud, 70, who were receiving psychological care at the time inside the tent of Caritas' psycho-social support project.

According to Avvenire, the Italian Bishops’ Conference newspaper, Romanelli suffered injuries to his leg and was hospitalized, although his condition is not reported as critical. In addition to the Argentine priest from the Institute of the Incarnate Word, eight other people were injured and rushed to Al Mamadami Hospital, just one kilometer (.62 miles) from the church.

The parish building, the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, was converted at the beginning of the war into a makeshift shelter where more than 500 people now live. The majority are Orthodox Christians, Protestants, and Catholics, but it also serves as a refuge for more than 50 Muslim children with disabilities and their families.

For weeks, the 541 people sheltering in the parish complex have endured the daily roar of bombs falling in the surrounding area, especially in the residential neighborhood of al-Zaytun in Gaza City.

Despite the insecurity, the priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) has remained in Gaza accompanying the local Catholic community in the midst of the conflict. In 2023 (when the Israel-Hamas war started) he was evacuated to Jerusalem, but decided to return in a gesture that demonstrates his pastoral commitment and spiritual resilience.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the incident. “The Israeli attacks on Gaza also hit the Holy Family church,” she wrote on X. “The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such deportment,” she added. 

This is not the first time that Holy Family parish, which has been a location for humanitarian assistance since the start of the war in October 2023, has been attacked. In December of that same year, two women were killed by an Israeli sniper inside the compound.

In addition, seven people were injured during the shooting that hit several Gazans. On that occasion, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned the "cold-blooded" attack on the perimeter of the parish, where there were "no combatants."

This latest attack on a place of worship raises new concerns about the situation of civilians and religious communities trapped in the conflict. The Catholic Church in the Holy Land has repeatedly called for respect for sacred sites and the protection of the civilian population, regardless of faith.

A United Nations delegation made a surprise visit to the parish on July 1, the only Latin-rite Catholic church in Gaza, which houses hundreds of people displaced by the war.

According to Servizio Informazione Religiosa (SIR), the news agency of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) visited the church to assess the current situation there.

The Catholic enclave had previously received special attention from the late Pope Francis, who called Father Romanelli every day. His last call to the parish was two days before his death, on April 21.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday met with a U.S. ecumenical group, led by Cardinal Joseph Tobin and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, encouraging them to “return to the roots of our faith” in their pilgrimage to Italy and Turkey. July 17, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Jul 17, 2025 / 12:31 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday met with a U.S. ecumenical group, led by Cardinal Joseph Tobin and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, encouraging them to “return to the roots of our faith” in their pilgrimage to Italy and Turkey.    

Welcoming the group from his “native country” to his papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, located 15 miles southeast of Rome, the Holy Father said their visits to various holy sites in both countries are a “concrete way” of renewing their faith in the “Gospel handed down to us by the apostles.”

He said: “Your pilgrimage is one of the abundant fruits of the ecumenical movement aimed at restoring full unity among all Christ’s disciples in accordance with the Lord’s prayer at the Last Supper, when Jesus said, ‘that they may all be one.’”

Leo reiterated the importance of Christian unity — a key theme of his pontificate — during the meeting, saying Rome, Constantinople, and other episcopal sees “are not called to vie for primacy” but to pursue a path of “fraternal charity” through the Holy Spirit.

“It is significant that your pilgrimage is taking place this year, in which we celebrate one thousand seven hundred years of the Council of Nicaea,” he said. 

“The symbol of faith adopted by the assembled Fathers remains – together with the additions made at the Council of Constantinople in 381 – the common patrimony of all Christians, for many of whom the creed is an integral part of their liturgical celebrations,” he continued.

Pope Leo specially thanked Elpidophoros for leading the ecumenical group alongside Tobin, saying such “signs of sharing and fellowship” among Catholics and Orthodox should not be taken for granted.

“On December 7th, 1965, on the eve of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, my predecessor Saint Paul VI and the Patriarch, Athenagoras signed a Joint Declaration removing from memory and the midst of the Church the sentences of excommunication that followed the events of the year 1054,” he said.

“Before then, a pilgrimage like your own would probably not even have been possible,” he added. 

The pope asked both religious leaders to bring his greetings and “an embrace of peace” to Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, who attended his May 18 inauguration Mass, when in Turkey to continue their pilgrimage. 

While encouraging the U.S. delegation to be “witnesses and bearers of hope” during the 2025 Jubilee Year, Leo asked pilgrims to look forward to 2033, when Christians will commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of “the redemption won by the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”

“Spiritually, all of us need to return to Jerusalem, the City of Peace, where Peter, Andrew and all the Apostles, after the days of the Lord’s passion and resurrection, received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and from there bore witness to Christ to the ends of the earth,” he said.

Before concluding the audience, the Holy Father expressed his hope to meet the group again “in a few months” for an “ecumenical commemoration” to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. 

He did not specify if he would or would not undertake an apostolic journey to Turkey this year to celebrate the occasion in İznik, modern day Nicaea, during the meeting.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After an early morning attack on the Holy Family Church in Gaza, Pope Leo XIV called for an immediate ceasefire, dialogue and peace in the region.

With Israeli tanks shelling multiple targets in Gaza, witnesses claimed the strike July 17 came from Israeli artillery shells. The Israeli military said in a statement it was aware of the reports of damage and casualties at the church, and that "the circumstances of the incident are under review."

More than 500 men, women and children had been sheltering at the church, including about 50 people with disabilities and ill children cared for by the Missionaries of Charity. It is the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip.

The early morning raid on the church left three people dead and nine injured, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem told ANSA, the Italian news agency.

Among the wounded were those who were seriously injured, those in stable condition and some with light injuries, the patriarchate said.

Among those hurt was the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, an Argentine of Italian descent whom Pope Francis would call regularly. News photos show the priest sitting with a white bandage wrapped around his right calf at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City.

A telegram sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, on behalf of the pope, stated, "His Holiness Pope Leo XIV was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza, and he assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the whole parish community of his spiritual closeness."

"In commending the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, the Holy Father prays for the consolation of those who grieve and for the recovery of the injured," the cardinal wrote.

"His Holiness renews his call for an immediate ceasefire, and he expresses his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region," he wrote. 

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, told Vatican News, "We still have partial information, because communication with Gaza is not very easy, especially today."

He confirmed that several were wounded, some seriously. "They say it was a mistake by an Israeli tank, but we don't know. It hit the church, directly at the church," he said.

Speaking to Vatican News July 12, Father Romanelli said almost everyone in the area beyond the church compound had left. "All around us, there is only death and destruction."

"Day and night, we are accompanied by the sound of bombs falling even a few hundred meters from the parish. It is absurd, but now, after 21 months, these horrendous sounds of explosions have become an ordinary part of daily life," he had said.

The Israeli Defense Forces' offensive in the Gaza Strip came after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks by Hamas and other jihadist groups operating from the territory.

Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need in mid-July, Father Romanelli underlined that the situation in Gaza was "very, very serious."

"Another day of war -- another hour of war -- continues to complicate the lives of tens and hundreds of thousands of people," he said, urging the world's faithful to pray and support those affected.

"We ask you to continue helping us -- to pray a lot, and to encourage others to pray," he said. "To seek peace and justice by all means, and also to lend a hand to these poor people."

Father Romanelli told Vatican News July 12 that there had been a little more than 1,000 Christians in Gaza before the Oct. 7 attack. About 300 managed to get out of the strip when the Rafah crossing with Egypt was still open, he said.

At least 16 Christians were killed in a raid that hit the Orthodox Patriarchate's St. Porphyry Church in October 2023, Aid to the Church in Need said. An elderly Christian was killed in November 2023, and a month later, a mother and daughter were killed just outside the church when an IDF sniper fired on the grounds of the Holy Family Church.

WASHINGTON – Reacting to the military strike of Holy Family Church in Gaza this morning, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops joined the prayers of Pope Leo XIV for those killed and to those injured and emphasized the need for immediate ceasefire and dialogue for peace.

“With the Holy Father, the Catholic bishops of the United States are deeply saddened to learn about the deaths and injuries at Holy Family Church in Gaza caused by a military strike. Our first concern, naturally, goes out to Father Gabriele Romanelli and all his parishioners, most especially to the families of those killed. Our prayers are for them during these tragic times. With the Holy Father, we also continue to pray and advocate for dialogue and an immediate ceasefire. Yesterday was the memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, through her intercession, may there be peace in Gaza.”

### 

Leonardo Donno and Moreno il Biondo in action during the Charity Soccer Match "Partita del Cuore" on July 15, 2025 in L'Aquila, Italy. / Credit: Antonio Masiello/Getty Images

Vatican City, Jul 16, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged encounter and unity in a message to the players and spectators of a soccer game to support sick and injured children from war zones.

“It is still possible — it is always possible — to encounter one another, even in a time of divisions, bombs, and wars,” the pope said in a video played at the July 15 match in L’Aquila, a city in the Italian region of Abruzzo.

A team of music artists beat out a bipartisan group of Italian politicians 8-6 in the friendly “Partita del Cuore” (“Game of the Heart”).

The 34th edition of the event raised funds for significantly ill or injured children from poor and war-torn countries to receive free treatment at one of Europe’s top children’s hospitals, the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù. The project is also supported by the Catholic charity Caritas Italia.

In his message, played before a sold-out Gran Sasso d’Italia Stadium and two million television viewers, Leo underlined the importance of challenging divisions by coming together to contribute to a good cause.

“Sport — when experienced well by those who practice it and those who cheer them on — has this great thing about it, that it transforms confrontation into encounter, division into inclusion, loneliness into community,” he said.

Tiziano Onesti, the president of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital, told CNA the hospital is “always on the front lines” of supporting children in need.

“We take in many children who come from all over the world,” he said, especially those with complex illnesses, like leukemia, or serious injuries and mutilation from bombings.

While the children — some of whom come from Ukraine and Gaza — are hospitalized, their families “are welcomed in these reception centers where they don’t spend a penny, they don’t pay anything. The hospital covers all the expenses,” Onesti explained.

In his message, Pope Leo said the charity match recalled for him another famous soccer game, played during the Christmas truce of December 1914 between French, British, and German soldiers, near Ypres, Belgium.

The pontiff also pointed to the politicians participating in the game, saying it shows that “politics can unite rather than divide, if it does not settle for propaganda that feeds on the creation of enemies, but engages in the difficult and necessary art of dialogue, which seeks the common good.”

“In this case, match means encounter. An encounter where even opponents find a cause that unites them,” the pope said.

Players on the winning “singers” team included some of Italy’s most popular artists across the genres of rap, hip-hop, pop, and rock. 

Matteo Renzi, a senator and former prime minister of Italy, played on the politicians team alongside other national politicians. Three members of the government also took part: the Italian ministers of economy and finance, of agriculture, and of culture.

“The atmosphere was obviously first and foremost festive, fun, a moment of encounter between opponents, politicians and singers,” Onesti said. “But also within the political sphere, there were people from all sides; it was very bipartisan, both right and left.”

The Bambino Gesù, founded by a wealthy family in Rome in 1869, was Italy’s first pediatric hospital. It became the property of the Holy See in 1924. Today, the “pope’s hospital” is a world-renowned research center and hospital specializing in pediatric medicine.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Politics can unite instead of divide as long as it refuses to settle for propaganda that feeds on creating enemies, Pope Leo XIV said.

Politics can unite, he said, if it "engages in the difficult and necessary art of an exchange of views, which seeks the common good."

"It is still possible, it is always possible, to come together, even at a time of division, bombs and wars," he said in a video message that aired before the start of a charity soccer match.

He urged people to have the "strength to believe and ask for a truce to come." It is time to stop "the race of hatred. Our humanity is at stake." 

Italy's annual Match of the Heart ("Partita del Cuore") is organized by the national federation of Italian singers to raise money for a different cause each year.

The televised soccer match pits Italian singers against a team made up of "adversaries," which changes each year. For example, the match in 2000 saw singers face off against a mixed team of Israelis, Palestinians and well-known sports stars like Formula One racing driver, Michael Schumacher. The late Yasser Arafat, who was president of the Palestinian National Authority at the time, and the late Israeli statesman, Shimon Peres, sat together in the Rome stadium stands.

The 2025 match held July 15 in L'Aquila brought Italian singers to the field against top government ministers and Italian politicians, including the former prime minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi. They were raising money for a project established by the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome and Italy's Caritas to support the families of patients who have a lengthy hospitalization and live far from Rome. 

In his video message recorded from the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo said it was "significant that two teams, one of politicians and one of singers, are playing today."

"It tells us that politics can unite instead of divide, if it is not content with propaganda that feeds on building enemies," but engages in dialogue aimed at the common good, he said. 

"And it also reminds us how music enriches our words and memories with meaning," he said.

He recalled Paul McCartney's song, "Pipes of Peace," and the film "Joyeux Noël," which were both inspired by the 1914 Christmas truce between a group of British and German soldiers who left their trenches to meet in "no man's land" to exchange gifts, take photographs and play soccer.

"It is still possible, it is always possible, to come together," he said. All that is needed is to create the opportunities to do so.

That means, he said, creating opportunities to: "confront divisions and recognize that the greatest challenge is encountering the other; contribute together to a good cause; repair broken hearts, our own and those of others; and recognize that we are one in God's heart, and that the heart is the place of encounter with God and with others."

Pope Leo praised the charity event for mixing sports and television, and for raising funds "for life, for healing, not for destruction and death."

When practiced well by athletes and fans, sports are great for turning "confrontation into encounter, division into inclusion, solitude into community," he said. When television is not just about being "tuned in" but becomes a "communion of gazes, it can make us rediscover how to look at one another -- with love instead of hate."

He invited all those who came together for the event and who support the charity project to "look into the eyes of children and learn from them," to find the courage to be welcoming and to be "men and women of encounter."