Cardinal calls for a day of prayer and penance to mark the anniversary of the October 7 attack and the start of the war between Israel and Hamas

JERUSALEM (OSV News) – October 7 marks the 1st anniversary of the brutal Hamas attack on Israeli communities and the no less brutal Israel-Hamas war in Gaza that immediately followed.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem called for a day of prayer, fasting and penance to “mark a date that has become symbolic of the drama we are living.”

In a Sept. 26 letter to his diocese, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa said the region was “plunged into a vortex of violence and hatred the likes of which has never been seen or experienced before” when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly Civilians killed in southern communities, nearly 250 people taken hostage, October 7, 2023. In the ensuing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, at least 41,467 people, including almost 16,500 children, have been killed so far, the Health Ministry said.

“The intensity and impact of the tragedies we have experienced over the last twelve months have deeply wounded our conscience and our sense of humanity,” the cardinal said.

According to the patriarch, the violence in the region has not only claimed “thousands of innocent victims” but has also influenced social patterns.

“It was a serious blow to the common sense of belonging to the Holy Land, to the consciousness of being part of a plan of Providence that wanted us to build here together his kingdom of peace and justice, and not to make it one instead “Reservoir of hatred and contempt, of mutual rejection and destruction,” he wrote.

He said that in recent months the patriarchy has repeatedly condemned “this senseless war” and called on “everyone to stop this wave of violence and have the courage to find other ways to resolve the current conflict that take into account the demands of justice.” . “Dignity and security for all.”

Explaining the need for the day of prayer, fasting and penance, the cardinal said: “We must pray to bring our pain and our desire for peace to God. We must convert, repent and ask for forgiveness.”

He recalled that the month of October “is also the month of Mary and on October 7th we celebrate the memory of Mary, Queen of the Rosary”. He invited everyone to pray the Rosary, “or in whatever form he or she sees fit, personally but better yet in community, finding a moment to pause and pray.”

The day before the letter was issued, he was a guest in Fulda, where the general assembly of the German Bishops’ Conference was meeting.

The German Catholic news agency KNA reported that Cardinal Pizzaballa was skeptical about negotiations over the release of hostages taken by Hamas during the attack on Israel. 97 people are still believed to be in the hands of Hamas. According to a Sept. 23 NBC News report, three of the seven U.S. citizens among them are presumed dead.

“The signs of a successful conclusion to the negotiations are very weak. “That is why we believe – and we hope we are wrong – that there is no end to the conflict in sight and that we will have to deal with this terrible situation for a long time,” Cardinal Pizzaballa told the German bishops.

A ceasefire agreement that would be most likely to get the hostages out alive and end the rising death toll among Palestinians is not yet in sight.

Instead of stopping, the war on the northern front has intensified since Israeli attacks on Lebanon escalated.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 630 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to local health authorities. About a quarter of them were women and children. Several people in Israel were injured by shrapnel.

On September 26, an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon hit a building housing Syrian workers and their families, killing 23 people, Lebanese officials said. It was one of the deadliest single attacks in a stepped-up air campaign against the militant Hezbollah group, The Associated Press reported.

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