There was a lot of talk about Gaza during the Pope’s vows to the Roman Curia on December 21, 2024. In his introduction, Francis began by recalling with emotion that yesterday, December 20, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, had not been able to return to Palestinian territory, although he had all the necessary authorizations, the pope said.
« Yesterday, they did not let the patriarch enter Gaza (…) and yesterday, children were bombed (…) it is cruelty, it is not a war. I mean this because it touches the heart “, Francis insisted to senior officials in his administration.
Quoted by AFP, the spokesperson for the Civil Defense of the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Bassal, denounced Friday December 2024 “a massacre of the (Israeli) occupation” having “made ten martyrs within the Khalla family, targeted by an airstrike on their home in Jabalia”near Gaza City. All those killed “are from the same family, including seven children, the oldest being six years old”he specified, reporting 15 injured. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army affirmed that the toll communicated by Civil Defense in Gaza “does not agree with the information in (his) possession”.
Gaza, seat of great spiritual masters
Friday, December 20, in a 45-minute interview given to the Argentine channel Canal Orbe 21, the Pope spoke of the “criminal actions” underway in Gaza, which according to the Pope do not respect the rules of war. “When you are faced with a mother with her two children who passes in the street because she went to get something from home and she returns to the parish where she lives and they machine-gun her for no reason, this is not the case. It’s not a war, with the normal rules of war. It’s terrible”he said.
In a book published in Italy on November 19, Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims towards a better world, he had for the first time mentioned the accusations of “ genocide » in the Palestinian enclave, without however taking them into account, but judging that he “ “It would be appropriate to study this carefully in order to determine whether (the situation) corresponds to the technical definition formulated by jurists and international organizations.”.
This Saturday, December 21, at the Vatican, the Pope continued his address to the Curia by referring to a 6th century monk, Dorothea of Gaza, and his teaching on humility. “This place (Gaza Editor’s note) today synonymous with death and destruction (has been in history) the seat of great Christian spiritual masters, such as Dorothea of Gaza, Hilarion, Barsanuphius.
Say good things
To the members of the Curia, the Pope asked “ not to speak ill of your neighbor » and for that to remain humble, quoting Instructions by Dorothea of Gaza: “ If something unfortunate happens to the humble, he immediately blames himself, immediately judges that he deserved it, he does not tolerate reproaching anyone for it, nor lay the blame on someone else,” read the pope, raising humility to the rank of theological virtue.
In 2014, a year after his election, Pope Francis addressed a particularly lively speech to the Roman Curia, considering the senior administration of the Vatican as a body exposed to diseases, among which – there were 15 – “ disease of chatter, murmur and gossip ».
This December 21, 2024, without the tone being so harsh, he insisted on the importance of “blessing”, that is to say “saying good things”: “ We cannot write blessings and speak ill of a brother, it ruins what we have written », insisted Francis, after thanking the minutantes, these employees of the Roman Curia who help him in drafting the texts he signs. He was referring in particular to his last encyclical He loved us, which required a colossal effort to research sources and translations, explaining the delay in its publication. “ How many people worked on this text », marveled François.
Within this Curia which he compared to a “ craftsman’s workshop » : « Bless and do not curse », Francis said again, quoting Saint Paul (Romans 12:14). “ People who work in the office with us, superiors, colleagues, everyone: say good things and not bad things “, he insisted.