Pope condemns Gaza deaths but says Vatican ‘not ready’ yet to declare it genocide
Pope Leo XIV has strongly criticised the killings in Gaza but said the Vatican is not yet in a position to declare them an act of genocide, according to a recently published interview conducted in July.
"The word genocide is being thrown around more and more," the American pope said in an interview with journalist Elise Ann Allen, published by Crux and conducted before a United Nations commission concluded Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.
“Officially, the Holy See does not believe that we can make any declaration at this time about that,” he added. "There's a very technical definition about what genocide might be, but more and more people are raising the issue."
The July interview was Pope Leo XIV’s first since his election in May.
Days before the interview was published, on September 16, an independent UN inquiry formally concluded that Israel is committing four of the five acts defined as genocide under the Genocide Convention: killing Palestinians, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births.
The 72-page report detailed evidence of deliberate targeting of civilians, including children, and highlighted mass displacement and famine caused by Israeli blockades preventing aid from entering Gaza.
Pope Leo XIV said it was “so horrible to see the images that we see on television,” adding, “hopefully we won’t grow numb.”
“We can’t ignore this. Somehow, we have to continue to push, to try and make a change there,” he said.
The UN inquiry’s findings are the strongest yet on the scale of the killings in Gaza and mark the first time a UN-mandated investigative body has concluded that Israel’s actions meet the criteria for genocide.
However, the UN emphasised that it cannot make a legal determination on whether a situation constitutes genocide under international law, noting that such a ruling can only be made by a competent national or international court.
A case before the International Court of Justice, filed by South Africa, seeks to have Israel’s actions declared genocide. However, experts say this is unlikely to conclude before 2027.
US President Donald Trump, who has openly stated his desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize, has sought to intervene in the war. He has held ceasefire talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is scheduled to meet him again on September 29.
The pope criticised the lack of progress in peace efforts despite US involvement.
"Even with some very clear statements being made by the United States government, recently by President Trump, there has not been a clear response in terms of finding effective ways to alleviate the suffering of the people, the innocent people in Gaza, and that is obviously of great concern," he said.
Other organisations have also defined the Gaza war as genocide. Amnesty International, in a December 2024 report, accused Israel of carrying out systematic killings, starvation, forced displacement and the destruction of civilian life.
Health authorities in Gaza put the death toll since October 2023 at 65,062, with a further 165,697 wounded.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
