While anchored in the hope that comes from Jesus' resurrection, Catholics should not forget the "tears, despair and destruction everywhere" they have seen in images from the Middle East, a top Vatican official said.
With a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon barely holding, as both sides accuse each other of violations, hopes for even a fragile peace seem impossible for those living and aiding people in Gaza.
The head of a Catholic humanitarian agency in Lebanon told OSV News the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire appears to be intact, as he and his team vow to assist those displaced by the conflict "wherever they settle."
As the Israel-Hamas war expands into Lebanon, an agency of the Holy See has launched an emergency campaign to assist thousands of displaced families in that nation's south.
The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for "fervent prayer" to end the violence in the Holy Land, as the Israel-Hamas war nears its first year while threatening to expand into a wider regional conflict.
Catholic Church leaders in the Middle East condemned a second wave of explosions of hand-held devices across Lebanon and in the capital, Beirut, apparently targeting the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
One day before Iran launched missiles and exploding drones at Israel, Pope Francis sent a message to viewers of Saudi Arabia's Al Arabiya Network pleading for peace throughout the Middle East.
While the Vatican confirmed Pope Francis' hope to travel to Kazakhstan this year, it did not confirm a news story that Pope Francis could meet Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in Jerusalem in June.
Two weeks after meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican and inviting him again to visit Lebanon, President Michel Aoun tweeted that the visit could take place as early as June.
In his brief visit to Malta, Pope Francis once again waded into the migration issue, reminding the country's people of the "unusual kindness" they are known for while delicately questioning the Maltese government's controversial policies toward migrants.
The pilgrimage of the icon of the Holy Family of Divine Will of Unity and Peace has begun. The icon, written by Melkite Father Samir Rouhana of St. Elias Parish near Haifa, Israel, will be in Lebanon for a month.
Church bells and the Muslim call to prayer sounded Aug. 11 to mark a minute of silence for those who perished in the explosion devastating much of Beirut and its port a week earlier.
