By Joseph Tulloch

Pope Francis has called for a day of prayer and fasting for on October 7, the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

“In this dramatic hour of our history,” the Pope said, “while the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to devastate entire peoples and nations,” the Christian community is reminded of its call to “put itself at the service of humanity.”

The Pope was speaking after Mass in St Peter’s Square for the opening of the second session of the General Assembly of the Synod.

He invited all the synod members to accompany him on a visit to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major on October 6, the day before the anniversary, where, he said, he will “address a heartfelt petition to the Virgin” for peace.

“Let us walk together,” the Pope urged. “Let us listen to the Lord. And let us be led by the breeze of the Spirit.”

A long tradition

Days of fasting and prayer for warzones have been a constant throughout the pontificate of Pope Francis. Not six months after his election, on September 7, 2013, the Pope gathered thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square to pray for peace in Syria.

In 2017, he called for prayer and fasting in DRC and South Sudan. In 2020, in the wake of the Beirut Port blast, he urged the same for Lebanon. In 2021, he called for prayer and fasting in Afghanistan, and the next year, in a moving ceremony in St Peter’s, he consecrated Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.