Pope Francis will meet next week with a group of relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas and another group of relatives of Palestinians in Gaza, the Vatican said.
The 86-year-old pontiff wants to demonstrate his "spiritual closeness" during the two meetings, which will take place as part of his weekly audience at the Vatican, spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.
"On Wednesday, November 22, in the morning, on the sidelines of the general audience, Pope Francis will meet at separate times with a group of relatives of Israelis held hostage in Gaza and with a group of relatives of Palestinians suffering from the conflict in Gaza," he said. he.
"With these meetings of an extremely humanitarian nature, Pope Francis wants to demonstrate his spiritual closeness to the suffering of each one of them".
Bruni quoted the pontiff's comments last Sunday that "every human being, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, of whatever nation or religion, every human being is sacred, precious in the eyes of God and has the right to live in peace." . /BGNES
