From the Information service of the Pontifical Mission, Fides News Agency:

"No one knows what lies ahead, and unfortunately there are no signs that what started yesterday may end soon." Father Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Gaza's Catholic parish dedicated to the Holy Family, describes the overwhelming feelings of uncertainty burdened with sad forebodings prevailing in the local population after the massive attack launched by Hamas militiamen against Israel. Weighing above all is the memory of what has happened in the past in other phases of the conflict.

"For situations much less serious than the current one," recalls the Argentine priest, a member of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, "very long wars started here previously. And now in the face of all this, I am constantly reminded of Pope Pius XII's appeal before the outbreak of World War II: nothing is lost with peace, everything can be lost with war. These are words also repeated by St. John Paul II."

For Father Gabriel now, one can only "pray and hope that the war will end as soon as possible, to make it less difficult for the wounds to heal and then work for the justice and peace that so many Israelis and Palestinians desire within their hearts."

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