There is something uncanny in how moral outrage is sometimes wielded – and withheld. On July 20, Pope Leo XIV addressed the deaths at Gaza’s only Catholic church by directly calling out the Israel Defense Forces:
“Tragic news continues to arrive these days from the Middle East, especially from Gaza… I express my profound sorrow for the Israeli army’s attack on the Catholic parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City, which… caused the death of three Christians and seriously wounded others. I pray for the victims: Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad and Najwa Ibrahim Latif Abu Daoud…”
He did not stop there:
“Sadly, this act adds to the continuing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza… I again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of war and for a peaceful resolution… I renew my appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians…”
These are forceful words – naming names, invoking legal norms, demanding an international response. But now consider what the Pope said about the massacre of over forty Christians in the Democratic Republic of Congo:
“I renew my deep sorrow for the brutal terrorist attack that took place during the night of July 26 to 27 in Komanda… where more than forty Christians were killed in church during a prayer vigil and in their own homes.”
But curiously, in this case, there is no attribution of blame:
“While I entrust the victims to God’s loving mercy, I pray for the wounded and for Christians around the world who continue to suffer violence and persecution… I urge those with responsibilities… to collaborate to prevent similar tragedies.”
Notice what is missing: no condemnation of Islamic terrorists, no mention of the Alliance of Democratic Forces (ADF) or ISIS-linked militants who butchered innocents in Komanda armed with machetes and guns.
That contrast is not subtle. When an Israeli shell strikes a church in Gaza – a tragic accident – the Pope uses clear and condemnatory language. Israel is accused; the attack is “barbaric”; the international community must act. Yet when ISIS-affiliated militants deliberately slaughter Christians in a Congolese church, the Pope expresses sorrow and a vague call for global collaboration.
Selective outrage undermines moral authority. Here, the Pope offers full-throated condemnation of Israel for tragic collateral damage, but retreats into anonymity and abstraction when actual jihadist violence targets Christians with the intent to slaughter.
Perhaps the Vatican is afraid. Afraid of offending Muslims. Afraid of stirring controversy. Afraid of saying what everyone already knows. But moral leadership is meaningless without courage. If the Pope can accuse Israel—wrongly—of targeting civilians, he should have no hesitation naming the Islamist terrorists who butchered over forty Christians in the Congo.
This is not just a failure of language. It’s a failure of principle.
What happened in Gaza was a tragic mistake during a war that Israel did not start, against an enemy that fires rockets from churches and schools. What happened in the Congo was the cold-blooded, intentional slaughter of Christians for being Christian. The Pope calls the former “barbarism” and blames Israel by name. He calls the latter a “tragedy” and refuses to name the killers.
That’s not nuance. It’s cowardice.
The Catholic Church wants to be seen as a moral voice on the world stage. But that voice means nothing if it trembles in the face of jihadist violence while shouting down the Jewish state for defending itself. There is no justice without moral clarity. And there is no moral clarity without the willingness to speak the truth—even when it’s uncomfortable.
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki is the Executive Director of Israel365 Action.
