Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

People inspect the site of reported Israeli bombardment on tents sheltering Palestinians displaced from Beit Lahia at a camp in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 25, 2024 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. Bashar Taleb, AFP/File

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1759798977765cropped-Screen Shot 2025-10-07 at 9.02.20 AM.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">People inspect the site of reported Israeli bombardment on tents sheltering Palestinians displaced from Beit Lahia at a camp in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 25, 2024 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. Bashar Taleb, AFP/File</span></span></span></div><p style="text-align:left">VATICAN CITY, Holy See — The Vatican&#x27;s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on Monday condemned the &quot;carnage&quot; in Gaza and said it was &quot;unacceptable&quot; to dismiss the death toll there as collateral damage.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/9/30/trump-s-gaza-plan-wins-netanyahu-backing-but-hinges-on-hamas-0727">Trump&#x27;s Gaza plan wins Netanyahu backing, but hinges on Hamas</a></div><p>Parolin was speaking to Vatican media ahead of the two-year anniversary of what he called the &quot;inhuman and indefensible&quot; October 7 Hamas attack inside Israel, and said he prayed for the hostages still being held.</p><p>Parolin said the war &quot;has brought about disastrous and inhuman consequences&quot;, adding that he was struck by the daily death toll among the Palestinian population, including &quot;so many children whose only fault seems to be having been born there&quot;.</p><p>&quot;We risk becoming desensitized to this carnage,&quot; Parolin said in the interview, published in Italian and English.</p><p>He added: &quot;It is unacceptable and unjustifiable to reduce human beings to mere &#x27;collateral damage&#x27;.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/10/2/israeli-warships-intercept-gaza-aid-flotilla-with-greta-onboard-0942">Israeli warships intercept Gaza aid flotilla with Greta onboard</a></div><p>He also condemned those who used the war as justification for antisemitism, which he called a &quot;cancer&quot;, warning that &quot;the perverse chain of hatred can only generate a spiral that leads nowhere good&quot;.</p><p>Parolin said it was &quot;clear that the international community is, unfortunately, powerless and that the countries truly capable of exerting influence have so far failed to act to stop the ongoing massacre&quot;.</p><p>He added: &quot;It’s not enough to say that what is happening is unacceptable and then continue to allow it to happen.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/1/5/gaza-rescuers-say-23-dead-in-latest-israeli-strikes-0002">Gaza rescuers say 23 dead in latest Israeli strikes</a></div><p>Asked about US President Donald Trump&#x27;s plan for peace, he said: &quot;Any plan that includes the Palestinian people in decisions about their own future, and helps put an end to this slaughter -- releasing hostages and halting the daily killing of hundreds of people -- is to be welcomed and supported.&quot;</p><p>He also welcomed street demonstrations for Gaza across the world, saying: &quot;It shows we are not condemned to indifference.&quot;</p><p>Pope Leo XIV has in recent months condemned the &quot;barbarity&quot; of the war and condemned the fact the Palestinians were being &quot;forcibly displaced again from their lands&quot;.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/26/head-of-controversial-us-backed-gaza-aid-group-resigns-1056">Head of controversial US-backed Gaza aid group resigns</a></div><p>The Holy See officially recognized the Palestinian state 10 years ago.</p><p>Following the Oct. 7 attack, Israel has killed at least 67,160 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8FxBXcXaZnU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FnWuY3Ckplw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n1inXvd_dGs?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on Monday condemned the "carnage" in Gaza and said it was "unacceptable" to dismiss the death toll there as collateral damage.</p>

The Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on Monday condemned the "carnage" in Gaza and said it was "unacceptable" to dismiss the death toll there as collateral damage.

Top Vatican diplomat condemns Gaza 'carnage'

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Top Vatican diplomat condemns Gaza 'carnage'

Agence France-Presse

Published October 07, 2025 09:05 AM PHT

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