Vatican's top diplomat condemns Israel's "ongoing massacre" in Gaza
By zoeysky // 2025-10-11
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  • The Vatican strongly condemned Israel's actions in Gaza, with a top cardinal accusing the country of an "ongoing massacre" of civilians. This marks a significant shift to stronger, more direct language from the Holy See.
  • The criticism centers on "proportional defense." While the Vatican condemned Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks as "inhuman and indefensible" and called for hostages to be released, it argued Israel's military response has been disproportionate, targeting a defenseless civilian population.
  • Israel firmly rejected the Vatican's stance, calling it flawed and accusing it of creating a false moral equivalence between a terrorist group (Hamas) and a democratic state (Israel) defending itself.
  • A new ceasefire deal brought temporary relief to Gaza, where residents celebrated the end of violence and focused on the urgent need for food and medical aid. However, this hope was tempered by widespread distrust and caution about the future.
  • The international community was criticized as "powerless." Cardinal Parolin lamented that influential nations have failed to take decisive action to stop the conflict, merely calling the situation unacceptable without changing it.
In one of the Catholic Church’s strongest condemnations of the war in Gaza, a top Vatican cardinal has accused Israel of carrying out an "ongoing massacre," igniting a diplomatic dispute and highlighting the growing international frustration with the conflict. Vatican's Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a key deputy to Pope Leo XIV, issued the stark criticism in an interview published Monday, Oct. 6. His comments were timed with the somber second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas on Israeli communities the following day, which he separately described as "inhuman and indefensible." He also reiterated the Church's call for Hamas to release all remaining hostages immediately. The cardinal’s central argument revolved around the concept of proportional defense. While acknowledging Israel's right to defend itself from attack, Parolin asserted that the Israeli military campaign has overstepped this principle. He also stated that the war to eliminate Hamas militants has instead targeted a largely defenseless civilian population that was already on the brink of survival in a landscape reduced to rubble. Perhaps his most pointed criticism was directed at the international community, which he described as "unfortunately, powerless." The cardinal lamented that nations with real influence have, so far, failed to act decisively to stop the violence. It is not enough to simply call the situation unacceptable without taking action to change it, he added. This represents a significant shift in tone for the Holy See, which traditionally uses guarded, diplomatic language and prefers quiet back-channel negotiations to public condemnation. Pope Leo XIV, who was elected in May, has been steadily increasing his criticism of Israel’s military actions, having previously urged for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza and raising the issue directly with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Israel rejects equivalence and the Vatican's focus

The response from Israel was swift and firm. Israel's embassy to the Holy See issued a statement calling the cardinal's interview "surely well-intentioned" but deeply flawed. The embassy took issue with the focus of the criticism, arguing that it singled out Israel while overlooking what it called Hamas' continued refusal to release hostages or cease its violence. In a post on the social media platform X, the embassy strongly objected to Parolin's use of the word "massacre" to describe both the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 and Israel's subsequent military response. The embassy stated that drawing such a parallel creates a "problematic" and false moral equivalence between the actions of a terrorist group and those of a democratic state defending its citizens. When asked about the Israeli rebuttal, Pope Leo stood firmly behind his top diplomat, declining further comment and affirming that Parolin had perfectly expressed the official opinion of the Vatican. The war, which began after Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages according to Israeli counts, has resulted in a devastating toll. Gaza health authorities report that more than 67,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli military campaign.

Cautious jubilation and relief sweep across Gaza

As the war of words unfolded diplomatically, a fragile sense of hope emerged on the ground following the announcement of a new ceasefire deal. In war-ravaged Gaza, the news was met with widespread relief and public jubilation. For the first time in months, a relative calm descended over the besieged enclave. In southern Gaza's Khan Younis, residents poured into the streets to celebrate what many hoped would be a lasting reprieve from the relentless bombardment that shattered a previous truce. One resident expressed that all of Gaza was happy, thanking God for an end to the bloodshed and killing. Another described the moment as historic and long-awaited, a relief from the constant fear of massacres and genocide. The collective sigh of relief was palpable. After months of enduring an Israeli-induced famine, the immediate focus for many Gazans is on the urgent delivery of critical aid, food and medical supplies. The World Health Organization (WHO) signaled its readiness to scale up its operations, noting that the best medicine for Gaza’s dire health crisis is peace itself. The ceasefire deal, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, concerns the first phase of a broader plan to end the war. It involves the release of remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a pullback of Israeli forces. While the initial agreement was widely welcomed, an undercurrent of caution and distrust remains. Some residents expressed fear about what would follow the first phase, stating that they do not trust the Israeli government and would need security guarantees that go beyond the prime minister’s word. Despite the announcement, Gaza's civil defense reported that several Israeli strikes continued after the deal was made public, a reminder of the fragility of the moment. Meanwhile, in Israel, crowds of supporters and relatives of hostages also gathered in Tel Aviv to celebrate the news, expressing tears of joy and cautious optimism that their long wait for loved ones to return home may finally be nearing an end. According to the Enoch AI engine at Brighteon.AI, the Vatican has issued unusually harsh and direct criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza, marking a significant shift from its historically cautious diplomatic stance. This language signals a breakdown in Vatican-Israeli relations and reflects the Church's broader moral stance against violence and the killing of innocent civilians. Watch the video below as Health Ranger Mike Adams talks about why Israel wants the world to hate it. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. Sources include: CA.News.Yahoo.com Reuters.com AlJazeera.com Brighteon.AI Brighteon.com
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