Pope Francis Faces Criticism Over Comments on Israel-Hamas War

Pope Francis is facing backlash after some of his recent remarks about the Israel-Hamas conflict were perceived as distorting Israel’s military actions and fueling antisemitism. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (COP), an umbrella organization representing 50 Jewish groups, criticized the pope for comments that they claim overlooked Israel’s right to self-defense and failed to provide proper context regarding the war.

The controversy stemmed from the pope’s response to a claim by Hamas’s civil rescue agency, which stated that several children had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. Pope Francis condemned the incident, stating, “This is cruelty, this is not war,” on October 7. While COP acknowledged the pope's concern for innocent lives and his commitment to peace, they argued that his remarks lacked a nuanced understanding of the situation.

COP pointed out that the pope’s statement did not acknowledge the horrific massacre committed by Hamas terrorists on October 7, in which 1,200 Israeli civilians were murdered and 251 hostages were taken. According to COP, the pope’s narrative failed to consider Hamas’s use of human shields and its exploitation of civilian infrastructure for terror purposes, thus endangering the entire population of Gaza.

The organization urged Pope Francis to prioritize building bridges between Christians and Jews, rather than making “incendiary comments” that might deepen divisions. This criticism was compounded by a controversy earlier in December when Pope Francis inaugurated a nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square depicting baby Jesus wrapped in a Palestinian keffiyeh. The portrayal was condemned by Israeli leaders, including Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, who stated that it undermined Jewish historical ties to the region.

In response to the controversy surrounding the nativity scene, Chikli remarked, “It is a well-known fact that Jesus was born to a Jewish mother, lived as a Jew, and died as a Jew.”

In November, Pope Francis sparked further debate when excerpts of a book were released, in which he referred to the situation in Gaza as potentially resembling genocide. He called for an investigation into whether the ongoing violence met the technical definition of genocide.

Pope Francis’s comments have sparked a broader conversation about the role of religious leaders in addressing the Israel-Hamas war and the delicate balance between expressing concern for humanitarian suffering and recognizing the complexities of the conflict.