Pope Francis says his Argentinian friends may be among Hamas attack victims

Pope Francis prays at the opening Mass for the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 4, 2023. | Vatican Media

ACI Digital, Oct 17, 2023 / 10:30 am

Pope Francis has said that he fears some of his Argentinian friends were among the victims of the Hamas attack on Israel.

Israeli journalist Henrique Cymerman posted on his social networks a video of the telephone conversation he had with the pope on Saturday, Oct. 14.

Cymerman is a friend of Francis. In his conversation, he said that many Argentinians were among the dead and wounded, and some were taken hostage by Hamas. The pope replied: “I know, I know. I think some of my friends are probably among them.”

The journalist proposed to the pope that he meet with the families of the Israeli and Argentinian hostages, as this would show “great consolation at this time of mourning.”

Francis told Cymerman that he was willing to meet with them.

This story was first published by ACI Digital, CNA’s Portuguese-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

ACI Digital (www.acidigital.com) is a service of EWTN News Inc. It is the Portuguese news service of the ACI Group, headed by the Catholic news agency ACI Prensa. ACI Prensa was initially founded in Lima, Peru, on March 13, 1980, by the German Comboni missionary Adalberto Maria Mohn (+1987). ACI Digital has been offering Portuguese-speaking readers Catholic news since 1997.