Pope Francis expressed the hope that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that came into effect on Sunday, Jan. 19, “would be respected immediately by all the parties [involved]” and would lead to “the release of all the hostages” and the rapid provision of urgently needed humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza.
The ceasefire to the 15-month-long war came into effect just hours before he greeted hundreds of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square at midday on Jan. 19.
Speaking from the papal study window on the third floor of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, he thanked “all the mediators” and “all the parties involved in this important result.” He was referring mainly to the diplomatic delegations from Qatar, Egypt and the United States. The United States was represented by delegates from the Biden and the incoming Trump administrations. “It is a fine work, to mediate so as to make peace,” the pope said.
“I hope that what has been agreed will be fully respected by the parties and that all the hostages can finally return home and embrace their loved ones. I pray for them and for their families,” the pope said.
He was referring to the 98 hostages still held by Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza since they were taken captive in the attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,139 Israelis and nationals of other countries. In the war in Gaza since, an estimated 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 17,000 children, and over 100,000 people have been injured according to the Gaza Ministry for Health and UN agencies.
Pope Francis, who has followed the conflict closely and phoned Holy Family Parish in Gaza City every day since it began, also expressed the hope that “the humanitarian aid again reaches, more quickly and in large quantities” the Palestinians living in Gaza, that have urgent [need] of this.”
There are 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza, an enclave that Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has described as “an open-air prison.”
“Both Israelis and Palestinians have need of clear signs of hope,” the pope stated. He added, “I hope the political authorities on both sides, with the help of the international community, can reach the just solution for two states.”
He said he hopes “all can say: yes to dialogue, yes to reconciliation, yes to peace.” He issued an invitation to the pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square: “Let us pray for this: for dialogue, reconciliation and peace.”
Pope Francis next recalled “the announced liberation of a group of detainees from Cuba prison” in recent days. He welcomed this gesture by the Cuban government as “a gesture of great hope that realizes one of the intentions of this Jubilee Year.”
Following President Biden’s announcement that the United States would remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, the Cuban government said it would release 553 prisoners convicted of various crimes “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025 declared by Pope Francis,” Vatican Media reported earlier this week. Cuba’s foreign ministry noted that Pope Francis and Cuban President Díaz-Canel had discussed the plight of prisoners and U.S. policy toward Cuba when they met in August 2022.
The Vatican said “Cuba has already released dozens of prisoners, including José Daniel Ferrer García, considered one of the principal leaders of opposition to the government. More prisoners are expected to be released in the coming days and weeks.”
Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has given special attention to the plight of prisoners and called for gestures of clemency and the abolition of the death penalty in the Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year. He concluded his remarks on the topic today by expressing the hope “that in the coming months, initiatives of this kind may continue to be undertaken in different parts of the world, that give confidence to the journey of persons and people.”
He also invited people to pray that peace may also come to “the martyred Ukraine” and Myanmar, where so many people are being killed and suffering.
