Page 97 - October 7 - Teresa Pirola

reconciliation, yet you chose to trust us. You chose the hope of a future peace over distrust of the past. Sixty years of ensuing dialogue and friendship between Jews and Catholics cemented this courageous act. Painfully, we Catholics must ask ourselves whether we have betrayed your trust yet again. Post–October 7, it is incumbent on Catholics to demonstrate beyond any ambiguity that their promise of friendship remains active, is not empty, especially when Jews worldwide are encountering extraordinary levels of antisemitic hostility.
I acknowledge, too, with admiration, the efforts made by Israelis who, with their Palestinian counterparts, have been committed to peace initiatives over many years. It is a horrific tragedy, and I feel your outrage, that among those brutally murdered and taken hostage on October 7 were peace activists who worked tirelessly for justice for Palestinians. Lives that were part of the solution were brutally eliminated that day. It seems impossible to think of peace again. And yet I know that your resilience is such that the will for peacebuilding solutions is never quenched. As Catholics we must support and join you in this instinct and quest for peace.
Catholics to Jews: You Are Not Alone
Together, we must find a way for practical solutions to bring about peace. This is not only your task, but ours. The work of peace belongs to us all. Jews and Israelis must not be abandoned as if they were the sole actors responsible for making peace.
There is much to be done, as we strive to cooperate in fulfilling our Creator’s vision for the earth and its peoples. Together, we go forward.
I embrace you fraternally, [signed: Francis]
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