ROME – Pope Leo XIV Wednesday had a brief greeting with Bethlehem mayor Maher Nicola Canawati Wednesday, during which he was invited to visit Gaza and in which he assured Palestinians of his closeness amid the ongoing war.

Speaking to Crux, Canawati said that he met Pope Leo during the pontiff’s Wednesday general audience as part of a tour of Italy and Europe to raise awareness about the impact of the war in Gaza and to try to bring the conflict to an end.

As part of the tour Canawati’s delegation is stopping in Turin, Milan, Venice, Padua, Croatia and Turkey, as well as Rome.

“The main priority is to stop this catastrophic war in Gaza, because we need that done today, not tomorrow,” he said.

Canawati said that during his greeting with Pope Leo at the end of Wednesday’s public audience, the pontiff assured him that, “‘My heart is in Gaza, my heart is with you.’”

“Some news agencies, they just want to point out some words, but I think he was clear that he doesn’t like what he sees in Gaza,” Canawati said, saying he also showed the pope papers demonstrating how Israeli settlements have infringed on and restricted Bethlehem’s territory, as well as the barriers, checkpoints and gates surrounding the city.

He said he requested a longer, sit-down meeting with the pope to discuss “how we can actually take some action” in finding a lasting solution to the decades-long conflict, and to discuss how to preserve the Christian presence in the Holy Land.

“It’s a genocide in Gaza and it’s ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and Gaza since 1948,” he said, saying there are currently some 170,000 Christian Palestinians in the Holy Land, whereas some 4 million Palestinian Christians have now left.

“This is due to the pressure of unjust actions done towards the Palestinians in Palestine, the lack of human rights and the violation of all kinds of laws and agreements,” he said.

“I already sent my letter requesting a time [to meet the pope], any time, and I’ll fly back so we can put everything on the table and discuss it, and of course I invited him to visit Gaza,” Canawati said, saying a visit would be a “big intervention by the pope” that could make a difference.

Canawati said the dire situation in Gaza and the steady exodus of inhabitants of Bethlehem now requires that advocacy go beyond commentary and shift into concrete action.

Specifically, he urged the imposition of embargoes on Israel and other non-violent measures to exert pressure to end the war, which so far has claimed an estimated 70,000 lives, around 20,000 of whom are children, according to Palestinian authorities.

Medical structures and personnel, churches, mosques, and the press have all become targets, Canawati said, saying “people are being bombarded and killed, displaced, faced with hunger from one of the top militaries in the world. So this was our priority, to try to stop this war and to talk about what’s really happening.”

Noting that Pope Leo in his recent interview with Crux Senior Correspondent Elise Ann Allen observed that more and more groups and individuals are beginning to define the war in Gaza as a “genocide,” Canawati said that terms don’t matter.

“I don’t care if they call it genocide or not, it is clear what it is already, now. I call it genocide, ethnic cleansing. Who’s in charge of what the word genocide means? What are the requirements? According to international requirements, it’s definitely genocide,” he said, saying the pope’s assertion that his heart is in Gaza made his position “clear enough.”

Canwati accused Israel of perpetuating the war out of expansionist ambitions, saying they have continued to form new settlements on Palestinian territory throughout the two-year war, with settlers often becoming violent with Palestinian locals.

Father Ibrahim Faltas, a Franciscan friar with the Custody of the Holy Land, was also in Rome Wednesday for fundraising initiatives and attended the pope’s general audience, where he and a group of fellow Franciscans had the opportunity to greet Pope Leo.

Speaking to Crux, Faltas said that he has lived between Bethlehem and Jerusalem for 36 years, and has experienced every major flare in violent conflict that has occurred during that time, however, he said the current situation in Gaza “is really the most difficult.”

It is “much, much more difficult” than previous eruptions of war or conflict, in Gaza and the West Bank, he said, saying, “everything is closed, and many Christians are leaving.”

He lamented the number of displaced and those who are now homeless, noting that countless houses have been destroyed and many people are sleeping on the street, while Palestinians have been arrested indiscriminately over the past two years.

“Then let’s not talk about Gaza. How many dead, how many wounded, how many children have been orphaned? How many children have died and how many children are beneath the rubble?” he said, saying people in Gaza are also dying of hunger, thirst, and the cold.

“It’s really an inhumane situation,” Faltas said, saying the situation is worse than in the past “at all levels, it’s really worse. It’s a terrible situation.”

In terms of the most urgent needs, Faltas said what the people require now more than anything is “for everyone to stop this war, to reach a ceasefire and put an end to this hatred, this revenge. Everything that is happening there is a revenge and it must be ended.”

“Enough hatred, enough revenge!” he said, saying the people of Gaza are in need of “everything” and it is the international community’s responsibility to find “a human solution to an inhumane conflict.”

Despite the war, Canawati said Bethlehem is safe, and encouraged tourists to come, and that while restrictions are in place for Palestinians, tourists are free to move about as they wish, and he urged people to come in order to support the local economy, which he said has suffered significantly since the outbreak of the war in October 2023.

Unemployment rates in Bethlehem have jumped from 14 to 65 percent just in the last two years, and there is no money to pay salaries of those who do have jobs he said, saying in some cases, the government owes employees up to 15 months of pay.

Canawati also lamented Israeli attacks on humanitarian convoys and NGOs working on the ground, as well as what he said was their decision certain politicians’ access to Palestinian cities, such as the mayor of Barcelona and a delegation of mayors from France.

The news constantly reports on the hatred and the killing, Canawati said, saying Palestinians “are really tired of all that, but we will never lose hope.”

When presented with the information Wednesday, he said, Pope Leo assured that “we are doing everything we can” to end the war and assist the local population in Gaza, and Palestine as a whole.

He voiced his belief that the only realistic solution to the longstanding Israel-Palestine conflict is the two-state solution, which the Holy See has long advocated for, saying this is “the only way to achieve peace.”

“I don’t think there is any other solution that can achieve this peace for that part of the world,” he said, saying, “we will do everything to achieve a real and just peace.”

Faltas echoed Canawati’s position, saying the recognition of the Palestinian state “is a good thing, a step toward peace and an important step for understanding that the two-state solution for two peoples is the only solution to this problem.”

“Where is the international community in all this? What are they doing?” he said, saying, “people need something practical, and right now the main thing is to end this war.”

Pope Leo, Faltas said, is “very, very close to Gaza and loves Gaza,” and is in regular contact with the community there.

“I saw how he is suffering for Gaza, also due to the situation in the West Bank,” Faltas said, saying, “he doesn’t say much, but he sees the suffering [and] he is suffering as we all are suffering due to this situation. Christians, Muslims, Jews, everyone is suffering because of the situation.”

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen