Six days after the initial surprise attacks in Israel, Cardinal Vincent Nichols continues to urge the faithful to pray for peace as conflict escalates and the death toll rises in both Israel and Gaza.
In a statement released on 13 October, Cardinal Nichols said:
“A week into the terrible conflict in Israel and Gaza, I urge Catholics to sustain their prayers for peace. The horrific atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel warrant every condemnation.
“We continue to hold in our prayers those who were killed, the injured, those held hostage, their families and communities.
“The situation facing the millions of civilians in Gaza also calls for effective humanitarian relief. We pray too for those killed, injured and displaced there.
“At home I appeal for restraint and the total avoidance of hateful language and action, as the impact of this conflict is felt in communities here.”
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, as President of the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land (ACOHL), is calling for a day of fasting, abstinence, and prayer for peace and reconciliation.
Inviting all parishes and religious communities to pray on Tuesday, 17 October, Cardinal Pizzaballa encouraged prayer times to be organised with Eucharistic adoration and the recitation of the Rosary to Our Blessed Virgin Mary.
