Italian Cardinal spends 7 hours reading names of children killed by 'Israel' in Gaza
10 hours ago
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, led a seven-hour prayer vigil on Thursday, August 14, in Marzabotto, Italy, reading aloud the names of every child killed in the 'Israeli' aggression on Gaza since the war began in 2023.
“We pronounce their names one by one. They ask us all to commit ourselves to finding or pursuing the path to peace with greater intelligence and passion,” Zuppi said at the start of the vigil, held on the eve of the Feast of the Assumption.
The vigil took place in the park of Monte Sole di Marzabotto, near Zuppi’s diocese in Bologna. The site is highly symbolic, set in the ruins of the Church of Casaglia, which was destroyed by Nazis in 1944, killing almost 800 people, including children.
During the vigil, Zuppi and dozens of other diocesan members read the names and ages of 16 'Israeli' children killed in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, alongside 12,211 Palestinian children who have died in Gaza as of July 25, 2025. 'Israeli' names were sourced from government records, while Palestinian names were compiled by the Gaza Ministry of Health. The document spanned 469 pages, requiring approximately seven hours to complete.
Read more: Top Catholic cleric says Gaza humanitarian situation “morally unacceptable”
“This is to remember, to pay attention, from this place which has always been a site of suffering and remembrance for all victims,” Zuppi said.
The initiative was organized by the Small Family of the Annunciation, a monastic community dedicated to preserving the memory of the Nazi attack, alongside the School of Peace at Monte Sole, an institution promoting peace and tolerance.
“It is an insistent prayer so that the war may cease, so that the weapons may fall silent, so that humanity may prevail,” the cardinal added.
Zuppi, who serves as Pope Francis’s peace envoy in Ukraine, has previously mediated hostage exchanges and helped reunite Ukrainian children with their families. He was also considered a potential candidate for the papacy during the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.
Catholic leaders have increasingly spoken out against the Gaza aggression as casualties rise and the humanitarian situation worsens. On August 4, the International Union of Superiors General, representing leaders of women’s religious congregations, called for a day of fasting and prayer, demanding “justice and reconciliation.”
Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the only Catholic parish in Gaza, described the ongoing crisis: “The situation continues to be very serious: there are bombings everywhere, and also deaths and destruction. The danger for the entire population causes great fear among civilians.” The Holy Family Church in Gaza was last bombed on July 13, killing three women who had sought refuge there.