He slammed the Pope's call last week for the global community to study whether Israel's military campaign in Gaza constituted genocide of the Palestinian people.

The G word

The Pope's views are included in his new book "Hope Never Disappoints. Pilgrims Towards a Better World".

It it, he says "according to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide". This statement and other extracts were published on Sunday in Italy's La Stampa daily newspaper.

The book is scheduled to be published today.

As Francis has often expressed disquiet over the Israel-Palestine war and the impact of its victims, it's perhaps to be expected that his book would include comments such as these.

He has often given his views about the Israel-Palestine war, so his forthright comments in the book are not surprising.

In September for example, he said "Israel's attacks in Gaza and Lebanon are immoral and disproportionate", adding that the Israeli army had gone beyond the rules of war.

Some sorry facts

The Israeli occupation army aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip has wrought immense destruction:

• Some 148,000 Palestinian people are dead or wounded
• Most victims are children and women
• There are over 10,000 missing people
• Famine has killed dozens of children and elderly people

The Middle East Monitor says the situation in Gaza is being described as one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Netanyahu charged with war crimes

The Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin supported the Pope's comments about Gaza.

While he was at the Pope's book launch, Parolin told media "The Pope has expressed the position of the Holy See, which is that these matters must be thoroughly studied because there are technical criteria for defining the concept of genocide".

He did not comment about the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on charges of war crimes in Gaza.

Source

• Middle East Monitor
• Vatican News

In a joint statement, Bishops from New Zealand's two biggest Christian Churches - Catholic and Anglican - are begging the warring factions in the Holy Land to stop.

Stop the war with the accompanying acts of violence it executes, the bishops' joint statement says.

Let it go. Release hostages. Stop fighting.

Everyone's saying stop the war!

The bishops' words join the international community's pleas for peace.

It's a sentiment Pope Francis applauds.

"Brothers, stop! Stop!" he said to thousands waiting to hear his Angelus message in St Peter's square on Sunday.

"War is always a defeat. Hamas must free Israeli hostages and all sides must allow humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza."

Later in the day, Francis phoned US President Joe Biden to discuss various conflicts and the need to identify paths toward peace, the Holy See Press Office says.

Then during his Angelus message on Wednesday, and for the 6th time, Francis called for a stop to the Isreal-Hamas war.

Violence doesn't work

"Hospitals and civilian infrastructure are protected under International Humanitarian Law," Anglican Archbishop Phillip Richardson says in the joint statement.

"Such niceties of law did not protect the wounded in Al Ahli Anglican Hospital and the people who were seeking sanctuary and protection. There are no winners in war: so often, it is innocent people who are maimed and killed."

The conflict between Israel and Palestine is a wound that has continued to fester... diplomatic efforts ... have failed because of the unwillingness to honour international agreements.

"Violence will never be a solution."

Blessed be the peacemakers

Bishop Steve Lowe, President of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference, spoke of peace.

"As Bishops, we endorse ... those groups and institutions in Israel and Palestine who work for peace, justice and reconciliation.

"Such work recognises our common humanity. This is the path that we advocate for peace in the Holy Land."

Government and diplomatic authorities must advocate for an immediate ceasefire and the opening and ongoing safeguarding of humanitarian corridors, the bishops' joint statement says.

"In this very emotional time, we cannot let anger lead us into antisemitism or Islamophobia.

"Let us remember that there are innocent victims on both sides of the conflict. To our fellow interfaith religious leaders, we ask: ‘Let us unite in prayer and action for a lasting peace.

"To the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, we urge you to pray for peace and to support aid appeals for those impacted by this humanitarian crisis."

The statement then quotes parts of Psalm 130 which begs: "Out of the depths I cry to you O Lord; hear my voice. O let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleading."

In conclusion the bishops say: "May we too be attentive to those who call out to us from the depths of despair and destruction.

"May we commit ourselves to being instruments of peace."

• NZ Catholic Bishops Conference
• La Croix
• Vatican News
• America Magazine