Pope Francis Urges Release of Hostages, Aid for Polio Outbreak in Gaza

Among the hostages killed was 23-year-old Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose mother met Pope Francis last fall to appeal for the hostages’ release and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August. According to the Associated Press, Israel believes that 101 hostages remain captive by Hamas in Gaza, including 35 who are believed to be dead.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a “humanitarian pause” for three consecutive days to allow aid workers to begin the campaign which aims to vaccinate more than 640,000 Palestinian children under the age of 10 against polio.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated rapidly as the conflict drags on. Aid agencies officials in the territory have warned of a potential public health disaster if immediate action is not taken.

During his Angelus address, the pope also prayed for the hundreds of people who were killed in a terrorist attack in Burkina Faso on Aug. 24. An Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in West Africa known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack.

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“In condemning these heinous attacks against human life, I express my closeness to the nation as a whole and my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. May the Virgin Mary help the beloved people of Burkina Faso to regain peace and security,” Pope Francis said.

The pope also expressed his concern that over a million people have been left without electricity and water after attacks on energy infrastructure in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“I am always close to the tormented Ukrainian people, hard hit by attacks on the energy infrastructure. Besides causing deaths and injuries, they have left over a million people without electricity and water,” he said.

“Let us remember that the voice of the innocent is always heard by God, who does not remain indifferent to their suffering,” Francis added.

In his reflection on Sunday’s Gospel, Pope Francis warned against the temptation of hypocrisy and underlined the importance of having genuine purity of heart.

“Purity, Jesus says, is not linked to external rites, but is first and foremost linked to inner dispositions, interior dispositions,” the pope said, citing chapter seven of the Gospel of Mark.

“To be pure, therefore, it is no use washing one’s hands several times if one then, within the heart, harbors evil feelings such as greed, envy or pride, or evil intentions such as deceit, theft, betrayal, and slander.”

Pope Francis added that Christians should take care not to live a “double life” in which a person appears “pious in prayer, but then treat one’s own relatives at home with coldness and detachment, or neglect their elderly parents, who are in need of help and company” or “gossips wickedly” in front of the church after Mass. 

“Let us ask ourselves, then: do I live my faith in a consistent manner, that is, what I do in Church, do I try to do outside in the same spirit?” he said.

“And may Mary, Mother most pure, help us to make our life, in heartfelt and practiced love, worship pleasing to God,” Pope Francis prayed.

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The 87-year-old pope also asked for prayers for his apostolic journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore Sept. 2-13, which will be the longest international trip of his pontificate. 

Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.