The Catholic Church’s highest ranking prelate in the Holy Land offered his “absolute availability” to be exchanged for Israeli children taken hostage by Hamas.

Published Oct. 15, the pope's letter is titled, "C'est la Confiance," the opening words of her phrase, "It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love."

Many Catholics overcame their antisemitic prejudices to rescue and save Jewish people in danger, “sometimes at the cost of their lives,” some Jewish and Catholic historians said at an international conference.

As a superior general and then as a bishop, the cardinal said he had attended six previous synods, and this is “the most diverse synod I’ve ever participated in.”

Israel’s Embassy to the Holy See underlined the need for the church to condemn “the hideous crime,” name the perpetrators and acknowledge “Israel’s basic right to defend itself against the atrocity.”

The Catholic Church is called to be an instrument of communion, Anna Rowlands told synod participants. But it requires grace and “learning to ‘bear with’ reality, gently, generously, lovingly and courageously.“