Pope Prays for 'Fervent Gaza Parish' on New Years Day

(01 Jan 09 - RV) In his homily during Mass for the feast of Mary Mother of God, Pope Benedict concluded ; “Violence and hate and distrust too are forms of poverty – perhaps the most tremendous – that must be fought”. From the depths of his heart and from the altar of St Peter’s Basilica he appealed not to let hate and violence have the upper hand in the Gaza Strip, joining his voice to the chorus of local Church leaders and with particular concern for the tiny Catholic Parish in Gaza, Pope Benedict prayed: “we place our worries and fears for the present and the future at the feet of Our Lady but we also place there our hopes that with the wise and farsighted contribution of all involved, it will not be impossible to come together to find a concrete answer to the widespread desire to live in peace, security and dignity”.
Fr. Manuel Mussallam is Parish Priest to the tiny Catholic parish (numbering only 200 parishoners) in Gaza Strip. He welcomed the Pope's words and raised a prayer for peace in his homeland, where he said, Christian and Muslims alike are paying the price for the political struggle between Hamas and the Israeli government.
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