Margaret Karram, a Catholic Arab born in Israel, was at the synod on Oct. 7, 2023 when she learned her homeland, Israel, was under attack. She joins “Jesuitical“ her work for peace as the president of Focolare.

Most families have been forced to move many times and with each new displacement, families lose or abandon more belongings. Not many of them by now have clothing appropriate for worsening weather conditions.

As the Holy Land marked a grim first anniversary Oct. 7 of the Hamas attack on southern Israel, the papal almoner raised $35,000 in one afternoon from synod delegates and immediately sent it to Holy Family Parish in Gaza City.

Israel was forced into this impossible situation by those who planned and executed Oct. 7. Yet we have been confronted with denials, justifications and even glorifications of the Hamas attack.

A delegation organized by the American group Christians for Ceasefire visits Palestine and experiences a weeklong training session in nonviolent resistance.

The violence has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent victims, but it also “struck a profound blow to the common feeling of belonging to the Holy Land, to the consciousness of being part of a plan of Providence.”