A senior Vatican official stated that the residents of the Gaza Strip must "remain on its land," opposing the proposal of US President Donald Trump to relocate many of the Strip's residents so they can live better lives.
“This is one of the fundamental points of the Holy See: no deportations," said Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin at an Italy-Vatican meeting today (Thursday), ANSA reported.
Parolin maintained that “the Palestinian population must remain on its land” and claimed that Trump's relocation plan makes "no sense."
He also reiterated that the Vatican continues to support the Two State Solution, which according to him "means giving hope to the population."
Pope Francis has frequently criticized Israel for its response to the Hamas massacre of October 7 and has suggested that Israel may be committing genocide in its fight against the genocidal terrorist organization.
This week, Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz, a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel, wrote an open letter to demand that the Pope change his statements regarding the war in Gaza.
"Dear Pope Francis,"
"Your words and actions regarding the State of Israel are not merely disappointing – they represent a historic danger. Through modern communications, your voice reaches billions instantly, making your influence far greater than any pope before you. This unprecedented reach demands unprecedented responsibility, yet your statements have instead revived the darkest patterns of Catholic Church history – patterns that for centuries transformed false accusations into violence against the Jewish people."
"The stark bias in your responses since October 7th cannot be ignored. In an era where your every word is amplified across social media, broadcast globally, and instantly translated into countless languages, you have repeatedly drawn a false moral equivalence between a democratic nation defending its citizens and terrorists who perpetrated the most barbaric massacre of Jews since the Holocaust."
"Your portrayal of this conflict deliberately ignores the tragic reality that Hamas deliberately embeds its terrorist infrastructure within civilian areas – using hospitals, schools, mosques, and churches as military installations and weapons depots. They cynically use Palestinian children and civilians as human shields, forcing Israel to make impossible choices in its legitimate fight for survival. Your failure to acknowledge this cruel exploitation of innocent lives, while condemning Israel's efforts to defend itself, reveals a profound moral blindness. Every casualty in this war is a tragedy, but the responsibility lies squarely with Hamas, who intentionally maximize civilian casualties for propaganda purposes. Your silence on these tactics, coupled with your persistent portrayal of Israel as an aggressor, sends destructive ripples across the global consciousness at a speed and scale unimaginable to your predecessors."
"Your recent engagement with Iran's regime is particularly egregious. Every handshake, every meeting is photographed, videoed, and disseminated worldwide within minutes. By meeting with representatives of a government that openly calls for Israel's annihilation, while failing to challenge their grotesque appropriation of Jesus in their campaign against Israel and the West, you have lent papal authority to modern antisemitism. In this digital age, such gestures become powerful propaganda tools, spreading at the speed of light."
"The deafening silence regarding the systematic persecution of Christians throughout the Middle East stands in stark contrast to your swift condemnation of Israel. Your selective outrage, broadcast to every corner of the earth, shapes global opinion with unprecedented force. While Christian communities are decimated across the region, you reserve your digitally amplified criticism for the one Middle Eastern democracy where Christians worship freely."
"The evolution of anti-Jewish accusations is clear and damning, but never before could these dangerous narratives reach so many, so quickly. From ancient blood libels to today's false narratives about Palestinian children, these age-old patterns find new life through your global platform. Your words, magnified by modern technology, fuel a worldwide resurgence of antisemitism at a scale previous popes could never have imagined."
"The progress achieved under Pope John XXIII toward healing Catholic-Jewish relations is being systematically undermined by your pontificate. Through your vast digital pulpit, the Church has become a global megaphone for those who weaponize antisemitism under the guise of supporting the oppressed."
"Your reimagining of Jesus as a Palestinian symbol of resistance, broadcast to billions, isn't merely historically inaccurate – it's a deliberate distortion that serves to delegitimize Jewish connection to our ancestral homeland. In an age where images and messages circle the globe in seconds, depicting Jesus in a keffiyeh and Israeli soldiers as Herod's men isn't just bad theology – it's dangerous incitement with immediate, worldwide impact."
"The Jewish people have transcended the role of history's victims. Israel's existence represents not just survival, but revival – a living refutation of the notion that Jews must accept persecution as their fate. Yet your words, amplified by modern technology, threaten this hard-won sovereignty with unprecedented reach and influence."
"Your accusations against Israel reverberate instantaneously across continents. In this interconnected world, your statements embolden those who attack Jewish communities worldwide with an immediacy and breadth of influence no previous pope has wielded. The dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents globally since October 7th bears witness to how your words can spark violence at the speed of digital transmission."