By Juliana Uzoka

The Holy Father, Pope Francis has called for truce amid rising hostility between Israel and Hamas. The conflict has led to  six Israeli casualties. The Israeli government claimed the dead bodies were recovered, after hostage taking by Hamas, and left at a subterranean tunnel in the Gazan city of Rafah.

Piqued by the outrage, the Israeli government announced on Sunday  that their bodies were recovered as the governments’ Defense Forces, advanced following a humanitarian polio vaccination campaign in Gaza.

Pope Francis expressed dismay at the possible escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas spreading to other Palestinian cities during the Sunday Angelus prayer.

He appealed for negotiations to continue, an immediate cease-fire, the release of hostages, and relief to the people of Gaza, where many diseases, such as polio are spreading.

The Holy Father demanded “May there be peace in the Holy Land!…May there be peace in Jerusalem. May the Holy City be a place of encounter where Christians, Jews, and Muslims feel they are respected and welcomed, and no one questions the status quo in the respective Holy Places.”

A source revealed that among those killed by Hamas was a 23-year-old Israeli American, Hersh Goldberge-Polin, whose mother had advocated for the hostages’ release when she met Pope Francis last fall. Additionally, the number of hostages being held by Hamas is given as 101, out of which 35 were alleged to have died.

Despite the offensive, both Israel and Hamas agreed to suspend hostilities for three days in order to pave the way for humanitarian aid workers to launch the campaign aimed at vaccinating more than 640,000 Palestinian children under the age of 10, who are at risk of contracting polio.

Officials of aid agencies have raised alarm over the impending public health catastrophe the deplorable humanitarian situation in Gaza portends if not urgently addressed.

Pope Francis also strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Burkina Faso by Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group in the West African region, known as Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), that killed hundreds of people on August, 24.

“In condemning these heinous attacks against human life, I express my closeness to the nation as a whole and my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. May the Virgin Mary help the beloved people of Burkina Faso to regain peace and security,” Pope Francis declared.

The Holy Father had also decried the untold suffering the Russian-Ukraine war afflicts the people, as over a million were left without electricity and water following the attack on energy infrastructure in the ongoing conflict.

“I am always close to the tormented Ukrainian people, hard hit by attacks on the energy infrastructure. Besides causing deaths and injuries, they have left over a million people without electricity and water, “he said.

“Let us remember that the voice of the innocent always is heard by God, who does not remain indifferent to their suffering,” Pope Francis further said.

In his homily during the Angelus, taken from the Gospel of Mark chapter 7, the Holy Father admonished people prone to hypocrisy and impure heart.

“Purity, Jesus says, is not linked to external rites but is first and foremost linked to inner disposition, interior disposition,” explained the Pope.

“To be pure, therefore, it is no use washing one’s hands several times if then, within the heart, harbors evil feelings such as greed, envy, or pride, or evil intentions such as deceit, theft, betrayal, and slander,” he said.

Pope Francis chastised Christians who live double standard lives of outward purity and inward decay saying for those who appear “pious in prayer but the treat one’s own relatives at home with coldness and detachment, or neglect their elderly parents, who are in need of help and company.” Or slander people while within the church after Mass.

“Let us ask ourselves, then: Do I live my fait in a consistent manner, that is, what I do in Church, do I try to do outside the same spirit? He asked.

“And may Mary, Mother most pure, help us make our life, in heartfelt and practiced love, worship pleasing to God,” Pope Francis implored.

Pope Francis also asked for prayers for his apostolic journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore on the Sept. 2-13, which will be the longest international trip of his pontificate.

Source: Catholic News Agency