VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The head of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) met Pope Francis on Thursday and asked him to help secure the release of the hostages taken by the Hamas militant group following its Oct. 7 rampage on Israel.
More than 1,400 Israelis were killed in the attack, and more than 200 people were captured by gunmen and taken to the Gaza Strip. Israeli responded with air strikes that have caused more than 3,500 dead, according to Palestinian officials.
“We ask Your Holiness to use your power, to use your strength, to get these hostages released,” Ronald Lauder told the pope, according to a WJC statement. “You may be the only person who has the moral authority to do this.”
Lauder travelled to Rome for the opening of a WJC representative office at the Vatican. His meeting with Francis was arranged before the latest flare-up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Vatican said in a separate statement.
Francis pleaded for the hostages to be freed on Sunday and called for humanitarian corridors to help those under siege in Gaza. His deputy said last week the Vatican was ready to act as a mediator.
“They are at the centre of all of our concerns: the pope and the entire international community. The Holy See is ready for any necessary mediation, as always,” Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said in an interview with Vatican media.
On Monday, the pope’s representative in the Holy Land, Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said he was ready to exchange himself for Israeli children taken by Hamas.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Howard Goller)
