Pope Francis Meets with Families of Hostages from Israel at the Vatican

Pope Francis met with relatives of hostages held by Hamas in a private audience on April 8th. This was released by the Vatican through the Holy See Press Office. The Holy See Press Office, explained that the private audience occurred in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. A relative of  an Israeli hostage said: ‘I felt Pope was with us in our pain'  This marks the second meeting of the Pope with relatives of Israeli hostages. In November 2023, the Holy Father met with a group of hostage relatives in his residence, as well as with another group, separately, of relatives of those suffering from the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The delegation that came to Rome is composed of Bezalel Shnaider, aunt of Shiri Bibas, the woman taken away with her two children, 4-year-old Ariel and 9-month-old Kfir (the youngest of the hostages who celebrated his first year of life in captivity); Gal Dalal, survivor of the Supernova Festival and brother of 22-year-old Guy, kidnapped during the rave. Also present was a mother, Merav Gilboa Dalal; Naama Miran, sister of 46-year-old Omri Miran, kidnapped in the Nir Oz kibbutz; Lee Yam Berger, twin sister of Agam, a 19-year-old soldier, kidnapped at the Nahal Oz military base; cousin Sarah Waxman Bakshi; and Alon and Amit Nimrodi, father and sister of Tamir, a soldier taken by Hamas from the Cogat base. The Holy Father has continually called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to free access to humanitarian aid, for negotiations to end the war, and for the release of the hostages.

Source: Vatican News