Pope Francis calls for global day of prayer and fasting amid escalating conflict in Holy Land

Pope Francis greets the crowd at the end of a Mass for the opening of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 at St Peter’s Square. / Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2024 / 06:49 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has called for a global day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 7 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel amid escalating violence in the region.

The pope’s surprise announcement, made at the end of his homily at Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, comes the morning after Iran launched hundreds of missiles towards Israel following the launch of the Israeli military’s ground offensive in Lebanon.

Pope Francis said on Oct. 2 that the Church is always at the service of humanity “especially in his dramatic hour of our history, as the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to ravage entire peoples and nations.”

“I ask everyone to take part in a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world,” he said.

Pope Francis also revealed that he will personally go to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major on Sunday to pray the rosary on the eve of the anniversary “to invoke the gift of peace through the intercession of Most Holy Mary.”

The pope made his plea for peace during the opening Mass for the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality, which is taking place at the Vatican Oct. 2-27. 

Speaking to the more than 400 priests, bishops, cardinals, and lay Synod delegates gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Mass on the feast of the Guardian Angels, the pope invited the members of the Synod to join him in the Marian basilica to pray the rosary for peace.

“Brothers and sisters, let us resume this ecclesial journey with an eye to the world, for the Christian community is always at the service of humanity, to proclaim the joy of the Gospel to all. We need it, especially in this dramatic hour of our history, as the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to ravage entire peoples and nations,” he said.

“To invoke the gift of peace through the intercession of Most Holy Mary, on Sunday I will go to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where I will pray the Holy Rosary and address a heartfelt plea to the Virgin; if possible, I also ask you, members of the Synod, to join me on that occasion.”

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has urged the importance of “prayer, fasting and penance” for peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land. The cardinal published a prayer for peace which he has asked Catholics to pray along with the rosary during the Marian month of October.