‘This is my son. No arm — it’s been 47 days’: Mom shows pope image of her hostage son
Francis holds separate meetings with relatives of abductees and of Palestinian prisoners, decries ‘passions that are killing everyone’; crowd at Vatican waves ‘Genocide’ posters
Pope Francis met separately Wednesday with relatives of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip and relatives of Palestinian terror convicts imprisoned in Israel and begged for peace and an end to terrorism and “the passions that are killing everyone.”
The pope spoke about the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians after his meetings, which were arranged before the Israel-Hamas hostage deal and a temporary halt in fighting was announced.
He didn’t refer to the deal, which marked the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since the war erupted following Hamas’s October 7 terror massacres in southern Israel.
The Israeli cabinet approved the agreement to secure the release by Hamas of roughly 50 Israeli hostages who were abducted and taken into Gaza by terrorists on October 7. A first group of some 12-13 hostages could be released as soon as Thursday.
During the meeting, Rachel Goldberg, whose son Hersh Goldberg-Polin had his arm blown off and was then taken hostage by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova desert rave, showed the pope footage of the attack.
“This is my son,” says Goldberg, holding up her cellphone to the pope. “No arm — it’s been 47 days.”
"This is my son. No arm. It's been 47 days"
Rachel Goldberg, mother of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, shows the Pope the last footage she has of her son. His arm was blown off by Hamas before he was taken hostage 47 days ago.@Pontifex met today with relatives of hostages held… pic.twitter.com/F0D8Ga9MHs
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) November 22, 2023
The pontiff said he met at the Vatican with relatives of some of the more than 240 hostages held in Gaza, and separately with a delegation of Palestinians with relatives who are jailed in Israel for terror offenses.
In the VIP seats of St. Peter’s Square were people holding Palestinian flags and scarves as well as small posters showing apparent bodies in a ditch and the word “Genocide” written underneath.
“Here we’ve gone beyond war. This isn’t war anymore, this is terrorism,” Francis said. “Please, let us go ahead with peace. Pray for peace, pray a lot for peace.”
He also asked for God to help both Israeli and Palestinian people “resolve problems and not go ahead with passions that are killing everyone in the end.”
The pope has spoken out repeatedly calling for an end to the war and has tried to maintain the Vatican’s typical diplomatic neutrality in conflicts. The Vatican is particularly concerned about the plight of Christians in Gaza.
Earlier this month, Francis told European rabbis visiting the Vatican that his first thoughts and prayers go “above all else, to everything that has happened in the last few weeks,” in reference to the brutal October 7 Hamas assault on Israel and the ensuing war with Hamas.
War erupted after some 3,000 Hamas terrorists burst across the border into Israel from Gaza by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing over 240 hostages under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities. The vast majority of those killed as gunmen seized border communities were civilians — including children and the elderly. Entire families were executed in their homes, and over 360 people were slaughtered at an outdoor festival, many amid horrific acts of brutality by the terrorists.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
