Father Neuhaus: The current military confrontations in the Holy Land are accompanied by a war to control public opinion at home and abroad. The rhetoric used on both sides basically denies the other side’s humanity.

Pope Francis today called for “the immediate release” of the more than 100 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza and, at the same time, expressed his deep concern at the “total siege” imposed by Israel on Gaza.

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.”

As the death toll rises in Israel, Pope Francis prayer for the families of the victims and “for all those who are living through hours of terror and anxiety.”

"The operation launched from Gaza and the reaction of the Israeli Army are bringing us back to the worst period of our recent history," the patriarchate, led by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said in a statement.

In his first Mass as cardinal, he acknowledged the flood of congratulations he had received from all quarters and all sects of his diocese. “Cardinals in our time are no longer the princes of the church,” Cardinal Pizzaballa said, “but its servants and those of the people of God.”