Overview

• Israel's embassy to the Holy See said Cardinal Pietro Parolin's interview could undermine efforts to end the conflict and to counter rising antisemitism.
• The embassy accused him of drawing a harmful moral equivalence and concentrating criticism on Israel while overlooking Hamas's refusal to free hostages.
• Parolin condemned the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks as inhuman and unjustifiable, urged the release of Israeli captives, and described Gaza's civilian deaths as a massacre.
• He called for firmer international action, insisted any peace plan include the Palestinian people, and questioned the legality of continuing to supply weapons used against civilians.
• Pope Leo XIV publicly affirmed that Parolin expressed the Vatican's view and urged reducing hatred, restoring dialogue, and pursuing peaceful solutions as talks on a ceasefire-for-hostages deal continue under U.S.-backed and Egyptian mediation.