Amid the destruction witnessed during their July 18–20 pastoral visit to Gaza, following the Israeli shelling of the Holy Family Parish church compound that killed three people and injured 10, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III said they found something more enduring — “the dignity of the human spirit.”
Palestine
“With tears in our eyes, let us raise our prayer for peace,” Pope Francis said as he thanked the people of Bethlehem and Palestinian authorities for a Nativity scene to decorate the Vatican audience hall.
Pope Francis met a former prime minister of Israel and a former Palestinian foreign minister who believe they have a workable peace plan for the Holy Land.