Holy Land’s top Catholic turns to upcoming Feast of the Assumption after Israel’s latest military strike

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem has issued an appeal for prayer during the upcoming Feast of the Assumption of Mary in response to the latest strike by the Israeli military that has left behind a destroyed refugee school and a mounting death toll.

Noting that many people are “crushed” by the violence and anger of the present moment, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa said the upcoming 15 August solemnity of the Assumption of Mary can be a key moment “to turn the tide of the conflict”. In a 10 August statement, the cardinal stated:

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to envision a conclusion to this conflict, whose impact on the lives of our people is greater and more painful than ever before. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find people and institutions with whom a dialog about the future and peaceful relations is possible.”

He invited Catholics, either before or after the celebration of Mass or at “another suitable time”, to pray for peace through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, voicing hope that parishes, contemplative and active apostolic communities, and the handful of pilgrims present in the Holy Land, would unite “in the common desire for peace that we entrust to the Blessed Virgin.”

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Pizzaballa’s statement came the same day that the Israeli military launched an airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza, which has so far reportedly killed more than 100 people, including numerous women and children, according to Palestinian officials.

The strike, which reportedly took place while people were gathered in the school courtyard for morning prayers, hit the Al-Taba’een school in the Daraj neighbourhood of central Gaza City, and comes shortly after mediating countries such as Egypt, Qatar and the United States repeated calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

In the wake of the strike, Israel has claimed that its air force targeted a “command and control centre” that “served as a hideout for Hamas terrorists and commanders” and was collocated with the Al-Tabin school.

A 10 August statement from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that their air force, acting on intelligence provided by the Israeli Defence Force and the Israeli Securities Authority, “struck Hamas terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control centre embedded in the Al-Taba’een school and located adjacent to a mosque in Daraj Tuffah, which serves as a shelter for the residents of Gaza City”.

“The command-and-control centre served as a hideout for Hamas terrorists and commanders, from which various attacks were planned and advanced against IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the statement said.

It added that prior to the strike, multiple steps had been taken “to mitigate the risk of harming civilians”, including the choice to use precise munitions, aerial surveillance and other intelligence information.

“The Hamas terrorist organisation systematically violates international law and operates from within civilian shelters, brutally exploiting the civilian population and institutions as human shields for their terror activities,” the statement said.

The strike has met with a global outcry and condemnation, with the Palestinian authorities, international leaders and representatives of humanitarian and aid organisations disputing the argument that the school served as a Hamas command hub.

Hamas authorities called the attack a “dangerous escalation” in hostilities at a time when international mediators continue to push for a ceasefire.

Pope Francis during his Sunday Angelus address again prayed for peace in a world at war, asking believers to “intensify” their prayers for peace and for an end to the wars in Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, and the Middle East, including in Israel and Palestine.

Pizzaballa in his statement said that “after having spent so many words and after having done what we can to help and be close to everyone, especially those who are most affected, all that remains is for us to pray”.

“In view of the many words of hatred that are all too often spoken, we would like to offer our prayer, which consists of words of reconciliation and peace,” he said, urging faithful to pray “that in this long night that we are living through, the intercession of the most holy Mary will open a glimpse of light for all of us and for the whole world”.

He lamented that not only does the suffering experienced by people continue “unabated” but it seems  “to be fuelled again and again by hatred, resentment and contempt, which only intensify the violence and push away the possibility of finding solutions”.

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Photo: A Palestinian woman at the al-Maamadani hospital following the Israeli strike on the Al-Taba’een school, Gaza City, Gaza, 10 August 2024. (Photo by ABOOD ABUSALAMA/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images.)

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