English
With the entire Church in Poland we express our compassion and profound solidarity with the people of Israel, inhumanely and viciously attacked by Hamas – reads the Statement of Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, and Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, Chairman of the Committee for Dialogue with Judaism of the Polish Bishops’ Conference.
The hierarchs unequivocally condemned both the terrorist attack itself and the detention of hostages held in Gaza. “Our hearts and prayers go to all those killed and injured as well as to their families” – reads the document.
Archbishop Gądecki and Cardinal Ryś stressed that they also extend their prayers to “all the victims, especially civilians, on the Palestinian side (especially children and women)”. They recalled that on 17 October this year, together with the Holy Father Francis and all the participants of the Synod of Bishops in Rome, “we not only prayed, but also fasted in the intention of peace in Israel and Palestine”.
Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
The full text of the Statement follows:
STATEMENT
With the entire Church in Poland we express our compassion and profound solidarity with the people of Israel, inhumanely and viciously attacked by Hamas. We strongly and unequivocally condemn both the terrorist attack itself and the detention of hostages held in Gaza. Our hearts and prayers go to all those killed and injured as well as to their families.
Our prayers extend also to all the victims, especially civilians, on the Palestinian side (especially children and women). Last Tuesday (17 October 2023) together with the Holy Father Francis and all the participants of the Synod of Bishops in Rome, we not only prayed, but also fasted in the intention of peace in Israel and Palestine.
Along with Israel, we profess a living hope written centuries ago by the prophet Isaiah: “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; The calf and the young lion shall browse together (…). The cow and the bear shall graze, together their young shall lie down…” (Is 11:6-7). Like Israel, we profoundly believe that this prophecy of peace, a gift from God which transcends our human calculations and imaginings, is not merely a dream. We are confident that “war is a failure. Every war is a failure” (Pope Francis, 8 October 2023).
Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki
Metropolitan of Poznań
President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś
Metropolitan of Łódź
Chairman of the Committee for Dialogue with Judaism of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
Rome, 18 October 2023
Translated by Marcin Turski / Office for Foreign Communication of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
