In 1st weekly audience, Pope Leo calls for ‘sufficient aid’ to be allowed into Gaza

Pope Leo XIV calls for sufficient humanitarian aid to be allowed into war-ravaged Gaza, calling the situation in the Palestinian enclave “yet more worrying and saddening.”

“The situation in the Gaza Strip is worrying and painful. I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid and to put an end to the hostilities, the heartbreaking price of which is paid by children, the elderly, the sick,” the pope says during his first weekly general audience.

Earlier this month the pontiff used his first Sunday message to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, and the release of all hostages.

UN agencies and humanitarian organizations have reported on increasing rates of malnutrition in Gaza and warned of an impending humanitarian disaster unless large amounts of aid are brought into the territory, due to Israel’s blockade on the entry of all aid since March 2. The blockade was lifted Monday.

Aid groups say that the amount being allowed in is not enough to meet needs.