vaticannews.va
2025-10-07
Two years have passed since Hamas' terrorist attack against Israel and the beginning of what has become a full-blown war that has razed the Gaza Strip to the ground. We look back at those events, and what has happened since, in conversation with Holy See Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Q: Your Eminence, we are entering the third year since the tragic October 7 attack. How do you remember that moment, and what did it mean, in your view, for the State of Israel and Jewish communities around the world?
A: I repeat what I said back then: the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas and other militias against thousands of Israelis and migrants living there, many of them civilians, who were preparing to celebrate Simchat Torah, the conclusion of the week-long Sukkot festival, was inhuman and indefensible. The brutal violence against children, women, young people, the elderly--there can be no justification for it. It was a shameful and, I repeat, inhuman massacre. The Holy See immediately expressed its total and firm condemnation, calling for the immediate release of the hostages and showing closeness to the families affected by the terrorist attack. We prayed, and continue to pray, and we continue to ask that this perverse spiral of hatred and violence, which risks dragging us into an abyss with no return, come to an end.
What would you like to say to the families of the Israeli hostages still in Hamas custody?