A prominent Holy Land Franciscan lamented the collapse of a building in Gaza that left at least 21 people dead.
In an article published on the front page of the Vatican newspaper, Father Ibrahim Faltas, O.F.M., wrote that “about 100 people remain beneath the massive piles of debris; more than 20 have already been pulled out, and over half of them are children.”
The former vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land added:
A mother and child died in each other’s arms; they were lying on a dusty mattress that could not cushion the weight of death, yet it allowed for one last, warm embrace, a tender love that could no longer give the gift of life. The image of compassion buried in Gaza, the image of a mother embracing her son, leads me to see Mary in that image, to try to understand her heart, broken with grief over the death of her Son.