There’s a famous story, probably apocryphal, that goes like this: at the height of the Second World War, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt hold a summit in Tehran to discuss strategy. Stalin makes some proposal concerning Poland—the details are unclear—and Churchill objects, warning that the Pope won’t like it. To which Stalin scornfully responds: “The Pope? How many divisions has he?” But if Stalin ever said that, he underestimated his ideological foe. True, the Pope commands no “divisions” of soldiers, unless you count the Vatican’s hundred-odd Swiss Guards and their surprisingly modern firearms. But as the Estonian writer Mihhail Lotman pointed out in 2018, “the Pope is a real power and that power is global.” When the pontiff speaks, he “turns to the whole of humankind in his messages,” and over a billion people on every continent listen in a way they never would to leaders like Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin. This power can be used for good: in recent years, Pope Francis’s encyclicals on the abuse people suffer under capitalism and the danger of environmental destruction have been influential, and Francis himself played a key diplomatic role in the normalization effort between the U.S. and Cuba in 2015. Too often, though, the papacy has been used to cause harm, from anti-trans bigotry to the way Catholic prohibitions on using condoms directly contribute to HIV-AIDS deaths across Africa. For many leftists, papal power and prestige is an atavistic relic, just like monarchy. But even the staunchest opponents of the papacy acknowledge that as a practical matter, the Pope has power. And today, in the opening months of his tenure at the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV has the opportunity to use his power to oppose a grave evil and potentially save thousands of lives. To do so, he needs to go to Gaza.

The calls for Pope Leo to make an official humanitarian trip to Gaza started last week, after the Israeli military struck the only Catholic church there with an artillery shell, killing three people and injuring ten more. The IDF claims this was accidental, but the wonderfully-named Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa begs to differ, saying that “everybody here believes it wasn’t.” In the immediate aftermath, Pizzaballa—who’s based in Jerusalem—went to Gaza himself to meet with the wounded. When he returned, he made a remarkable statement condemning the Israeli assault, and especially the blockade that prevents the most basic food and medical supplies from reaching civilians:

Christ is not absent from Gaza. He is there—crucified in the wounded, buried under rubble and yet present in every act of mercy, every candle in the darkness, every hand extended to the suffering[…] Humanitarian aid is not only necessary—it is a matter of life and death. Refusing it is not a delay, but a sentence. Every hour without food, water, medicine and shelter causes deep harm. We have seen it: Men holding out in the sun for hours in the hope of a simple meal. This is a humiliation that is hard to bear when you see it with your own eyes. It is morally unacceptable and unjustifiable.

Cardinal Pizzaballa in Gaza. (Photo: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.)

The Pope himself concurs, calling for a ceasefire and “an immediate end to the barbarity of war.” He’s following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who reportedly called the church in Gaza almost every night, wrapped the infant Jesus in a keffiyeh in his nativity scene, and charged the IDF with “terrorism.” But many people online are now calling for Leo to go beyond mere statements and take action. “The Pope should go to Gaza and bring aid in,” says journalist Mohammad Alsaafin in a post with over 44,000 likes. “He should dare the Israelis to block him. Words, no matter how heartfelt, will not save a single starving child.” Or, as civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis puts it: “The pope could board a ship with aid and sail to Gaza. With the UN declaring the final stage of famine that might be irreversible for millions, bold acts of courage by everyone in a position to do something are the only chance.”

That’s exactly right. Today, more than 100 humanitarian groups from the World Health Organization to Amnesty International say that nearly all 2.1 million residents of Gaza are facing “man-made mass starvation caused by a blockade on aid.” Even the rabidly pro-Israel Free Press has been compelled to admit the scale of “the hunger crisis in Gaza,” despite earlier calling it a “myth.” The Guardian reports that “skeletal children fill hospital wards.” When a tiny percentage of Gazans try to reach the meager food supplies Israel allows in, they’re often gunned down where they stand. For the rest, doctors on the ground describe a “wave of hunger deaths.” It’s the greatest moral horror in the world, and anyone who dares to call themselves a moral authority has a responsibility to do everything in their power to stop it.

This is especially true for the Pope, since his own scriptures command him to take action. In the Book of James, the apostle takes a dim view of those who talk about compassion for starving people, but do nothing to actually help:

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

This is one of those inconvenient radical bits of the Bible which conservative Christians rarely touch, but the Pope of all people surely knows it. Today, if he talks about how important it is to help the people of Gaza, but doesn’t use his power to do it, millions of people will ask a similar question to the one James posed. What good is it having a Pope who can see children starving and do nothing but talk? Why would anyone listen to such a person?

What’s more, Pope Leo is different from any previous pontiff. He’s an American from Chicago, and although he’s lived and worked in Peru for decades, he remains a U.S. citizen and taxpayer. That means the U.S. governments, Biden’s and Trump’s, that have aided and abetted this massacre at every turn are his governments. Like every American, he shares in our complicity, our national shame, and our duty to oppose the crimes of our rulers and Israel’s. A robe, a ring, and a staff can’t absolve him of that.

There’s a precedent here, too, for how a papal aid mission could work. Last month, Greta Thunberg and a handful of incredibly courageous activists sailed their own ship, the Madleen, across the Mediterranean Sea in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade and deliver as much aid as they could to Gaza, sending out tweets and livestreams the whole time so the world could watch. In a flagrant breach of international law, the Israeli military seized their ship before it could reach its destination, and they kept the activists in insect-infested cells, subjected them to sleep deprivation, and abused them in all kinds of other ways. But that hasn’t deterred their comrades on the outside. Right now, Amazon union organizer Chris Smalls and a second group of activists are on their way across the Mediterranean on another voyage with the same goal. In all likelihood, Israel will abduct and imprison them too. But what if the third vessel was a lot bigger, and Pope Leo on it, with his heavily-armed Swiss Guards as the crew? Then things would be different, and they might very well break through.

The bloodshed and terror in Gaza is a moment of crisis that will make or break institutions, much like slavery was in the 19th century. Universities, media networks, political parties, and nations are tearing themselves apart over it, and history will judge those who stood idly by while thousands of innocents were murdered. For its part, Catholicism is already facing a moment of existential crisis, from its anti-LGBTQ prejudice to its longstanding complicity and cover-up of sexual abuse. If the Pope breaks the blockade of Gaza, it will not make up for those past misdeeds. Nothing can. But it may show the world that the Catholic church is capable of something other than corruption and malevolence. On the other hand, if the Pope and his allies just mouth platitudes and refuse to act, people will wonder what the point of having a Pope at all is.

So, Leo—Robert—what will it be? Will you back up your fine-sounding declarations with action? Is the papacy actually good for something, or are you nothing but empty wind? How many divisions have you?

Share

Honoring Pope Leo XIV’s commitment to peace and defense of the Christians suffering in Gaza, the Vulnerable People Project (VPP) named one of its aid trucks sent to the war-torn region after the Holy Father.

VPP founder Jason Jones wrote in an exclusive statement to CatholicVote that Pope Leo XIV has remained firmly committed to his first words as Pope, “Peace be with you!”

“Pope Leo XIV not only chose those words as the first of his pontificate, but he then went out of his way to make certain they would not ring hollow,” Jones wrote. “Before he even held his first public Mass as pope, the Holy Father spoke up for what his predecessor had called the ‘martyr Churches,’ applying that phrase first and foremost to the Church of ‘the Holy Land’ – in other words the Christian communities in the West Bank and Gaza.”

The VPP has been sending aid to innocent civilians in Gaza, and it is dedicating a truck to Pope Leo XIV.

Jones then quoted Pope Leo, who said May 14 in an address to pilgrims on the Jubilee for Eastern Churches, “I thank God for those Christians – Eastern and Latin alike – who, above all in the Middle East, persevere and remain in their homelands, resisting the temptation to abandon them. Christians must be given the opportunity, and not just in words, to remain in their native lands with all the rights needed for a secure existence. Please, let us strive for this!”

>> Pope Leo XIV calls again for peace in Gaza and Ukraine, urges prayer for all war-torn places <> Catholic activist’s call for help for Gaza children, elderly goes viral <<

Pope Leo XIV sends a message to the 44th session of the FAO Conference, and condemns the use of hunger as a weapon of war and expenditures on arms production instead of eradicating poverty.

By Devin Watkins

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization is holding the 44th Session of the FAO Conference in Rome from June 28 to July 4.

Pope Leo XIV sent a message to participants, as the FAO marked its 80th anniversary of its founding to combat food insecurity and malnutrition.

In his message, the Pope said the Church supports all efforts to end the “scandal of global hunger,” recalling Jesus’ care to feed the crowds who had come to hear Him speak.

“We realize that the true miracle accomplished by Christ was to show that the key to defeating hunger lies more in sharing than in greedily hoarding,” he said.

Many people, he lamented, still suffer cruelly and yearn for their needs to be met, as hunger and malnutrition continue despite the excess production in certain parts of the world.

“We are now witnessing, with deep sorrow, the inhumane use of hunger as a weapon of war,” said the Pope. “Starving civilian populations is a very cheap way to wage war.”

Most conflicts are now fought by armed civilian groups instead of regular armies, he added, pointing out that tactics like burning crops and blocking humanitarian aid weigh heavily on defenseless civilians.

When conflict breaks out, farmers are unable to sell their produce and inflation skyrockets, leading millions of people to suffer from famine and food insecurity.

Pope Leo called for the international community to take action and set clear boundaries so that perpetrators are held accountable.

“Political crises, armed conflicts, and economic disruptions play a central role in worsening the food crisis,” he said. “They hinder humanitarian aid, undermine local agricultural production, and deprive people not only of access to food, but also of the right to live a life of dignity and opportunity.”

Selfishness and indifference, added the Pope, must be set aside on behalf of dialogue and mutual understanding, so that peace and stability allow societies to build resilient agrifood systems.

At the same time, climate change and food systems are closely intertwined, meaning mistreatment of one deeply impacts the other.

“The social injustice caused by natural disasters and biodiversity loss,” he said, “must be reversed to achieve a just ecological transition, one that places both the environment and people at the center.”

He called for ecosystems to be protected through coordinated climate action in a spirit of solidarity, since our world’s resources must be employed so that everyone is guaranteed food security and nutritious diets.

Pope Leo XIV lamented that financial resources and innovative technologies are being diverted to arms production and weapons trade.

“As a result, questionable ideologies are being promoted, while human relationships grow cold, corroding communion and driving away fraternity and social friendship.”

In conclusion, Pope Leo invited everyone to be “artisans of peace, working for the common good” by setting aside sterile rhetoric and engaging with the issue of hunger with firm political will.

“To achieve this noble goal,” he said, “I wish to assure you that the Holy See will always serve the cause of harmony among peoples and will not grow weary of contributing to the common good of the family of nations, especially with regard to those most afflicted and those who suffer from hunger and thirst.”

Listen to our report

A view of the damage to the Holy Family Catholic Church compound in Gaza City after the Israeli strike (AFP or licensors)

Pope Leo XIV has called Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem enters Gaza to visit the Holy Family Catholic Church after the Israeli strike that killed 3 people and injured several others taking refuge there.

By Devin Watkins

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, made a visit on Friday to the only Catholic parish in Gaza, along with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III.

As they entered the enclave, Pope Leo XIV placed a call to Patriarch Pizzaballa to “express his closeness, care, prayer, support, and desire to do everything possible to achieve not only a ceasefire but also an end to this tragedy.”

“Pope Leo repeatedly stated that it is time to stop this slaughter, that what has happened is unjustifiable, and that we must ensure there are no more victims,” said the Patriarch, speaking to Vatican News.

Speaking on behalf of the Latin Patriarchate and all the Churches of the Holy Land, Patriarch Pizzaballa thanked the Pope for “his solidarity and the prayers he had already assured us of,” while expressing the gratitude of the entire Catholic community of Gaza.

Pope’s concern for situation in Gaza

A shell fired from an Israeli tank struck the Holy Family Church on Thursday, killing 3 people and wounding 10 others, including Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, the late Pope Francis spoke by phone nearly every day with Fr. Romanelli.

On Thursday, Pope Leo XIV sent a message to the parish in Gaza saying he is praying for the victims and everyone taking refuge in the church compound.

The Pope called for “an immediate ceasefire,” and expressed his “profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation, and enduring peace in the region.”

Fr. Gabriel Romanelli gets into a vehicle after he was wounded in the attack

Ecumenical visit to Gaza

Patriarchs Pizzaballa and Theophilos III made their visit to the parish on Friday to “stand alongside those affected by recent events,” according to a statement from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

They worked with humanitarian partners to secure access for hundreds of tons of food aid, first aid kits, and medical equipment, which will benefit both the Christian community and other families in Gaza as well.

“The Patriarchate ensured the evacuation of individuals injured in the attack to medical institutions outside Gaza where they will receive care,” said the statement.

Praying for the safety of the visit, the Patriarchate called for the suspension of military activities.

“The Latin Patriarchate said it remains steadfast in its commitment to the Christian community and the entire population of Gaza,” it said. “They will not be forgotten, nor will they be abandoned.”

Church leaders denounce attack on house of worship

Separately, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem released a joint statement to express their solidarity with people sheltering in the Gaza Catholic Parish.

“In unyielding unity, we strongly denounce this crime,” they said. “Houses of worship are sacred spaces that should be kept safe. They are also protected under international law. Targeting a church that houses approximately 600 refugees, including children with special needs, is a violation of these laws. It is also an affront to human dignity, a trampling upon the sanctity of human life, and the desecration of a holy site.”

Assuring the community in Gaza of their prayers, the Church leaders called upon the international community to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that leads to an end to the war.

“We also implore them to guarantee the protection of all religious and humanitarian sites,” they said, “and to provide for the relief of the starving masses throughout the Gaza Strip.”

Listen to our report

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Pope Leo XIV firmly calls on Israel to allow the entry of humanitarian aid of sufficient quantities to the Gaza Strip.

This call was made during his first general audience at St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, May 22, 2025, attended by more than 40,000 people.

As reported by Vatican News, in his statement, the Holy Pope described the increasingly alarming condition in Gaza and highlighted the suffering of the people in the ongoing conflict.

“I renew my appeal to allow the entry of dignified humanitarian aid and to put an end to the hostilities, whose heartbreaking price is paid by the children, elderly, and the sick,” said Pope Leo XIV.

Israel had previously announced plans to ease its 11-week total blockade of aid delivery.

Walking the Steps of the Late Pope Francis

Pope Leo XIV’s stance on Israeli atrocities traces the footsteps of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who in the last years of his life was known as one of the most vocal moral voices against Israeli onslaught against Gaza.

Pope Francis passed away on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88. In his final Easter speech, he urged for a ceasefire and the release of hostages.

Francis’ criticism of the genocide in Gaza often strained Vatican-Israel diplomatic relations. Unlike many other countries that sent high officials to Pope Francis’ funeral, Israel only sent their ambassador to the Vatican.

However, in Leo XIV’s inauguration mass, Israeli President Isaac Herzog was present, along with a Jewish delegation including the chief rabbi of Rome and a representative of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities. This is a small sign of an effort to improve relations.

A Continuing Tragedy

In the past few days, more than 500 Palestinians have reportedly died, while the total casualties since October 2023 have passed 53,800, most of whom are women and children, as quoted from Middle East Monitor.

Israel’s blockade on Gaza has cut off power supplies, halted the operation of clean water facilities, and prevented the entry of aid trucks. The UN and various international humanitarian organizations have warned that this situation resembles mass starvation and constitutes a form of collective punishment that violates international law.

Amid the silence of many world leaders, Pope Leo XIV reaffirms the Vatican’s position and serves as a reminder that peace and justice can be expected through the promotion of moral goodness. As Pope Francis stated before his death, Palestinians in Gaza are “starving people that aspires to a future of peace.”

Sita Planasari contributed to the writing of this article.

Editor’s Choice: Tearful WHO Chief Urges Israel to Show ‘Mercy’ in Gaza

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News