(ZENIT News / Rome, 12.17.2025).- Pope Leo XIV and Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke by telephone. The call was initiated by President Herzog on December 17, just days after a deadly attack on members of the Jewish community in Sydney, Australia, who had gathered to celebrate Hanukkah. Fifteen people were killed in the assault, an event that reverberated far beyond Australia’s shores and prompted expressions of solidarity from religious and political leaders worldwide.
According to the Holy See, the Pope used the conversation to restate the Catholic Church’s unequivocal rejection of antisemitism in all its forms. Such hatred, the Vatican noted, continues to instill fear not only within Jewish communities but across societies as a whole. The attack in Sydney, coming during a religious celebration, underscored for the Pope how persistent and destructive antisemitic violence remains.
In recent days, Leo XIV had already made his closeness to the Jewish community explicit. In public remarks and in a formal message sent through the Vatican Secretariat of State, he offered prayers for the victims, comfort for grieving families, and hopes for the recovery of those injured. He also issued a stark moral appeal, insisting that antisemitic violence must be confronted at its roots and eradicated from human hearts.
The conversation with President Herzog did not remain limited to condemnation alone. Against the backdrop of ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the Pope urged perseverance in existing peace efforts, even as diplomatic processes grow fragile and public fatigue deepens. Without entering into political specifics, he emphasized that abandoning dialogue would only prolong suffering and instability.
Humanitarian concerns were also central to the exchange. Leo XIV highlighted the urgency of sustaining and expanding aid to civilian populations affected by war, calling attention to the moral responsibility to protect life and dignity amid destruction. Vatican sources indicated that the Pope stressed continuity in humanitarian engagement as an indispensable complement to political negotiations.
This telephone conversation marked the second direct contact between Leo XIV and President Herzog since the beginning of the pontificate. Earlier in the autumn, the two leaders met in person at the Vatican, where discussions extended beyond immediate crises to include the broader political and social challenges facing the region, with particular sensitivity to Jerusalem and the wider Holy Land.
Seen together, these encounters suggest a consistent line in the Pope’s approach: an insistence on moral clarity in the face of hatred, paired with a call for patient, sustained efforts toward peace and humanitarian relief. At a moment when religious identity was once again targeted by violence, the timing of the call—between Hanukkah and Christmas—carried its own quiet message. Faith, in the Pope’s view, must never become a pretext for bloodshed, but rather a bridge toward solidarity, repentance, and hope.
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