August 12, 2025 | 04:45 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Pop icon Madonna on Monday appealed directly to Pope Leo XIV to visit Gaza, urging him to "bring your light to the children before it's too late" as Israel continues deadly attacks in the territory, causing widespread starvation.
"Most Holy Father, please go to Gaza and bring your light to the children before it's too late. As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering. The children of the world belong to everyone. You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry," Madonna wrote in an Instagram post on Monday, cited by Anadolu.
"You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry. We need the humanitarian gates to be fully opened to save these innocent children. There is no more time. Please say you will go. Love, Madonna."
"Politics Cannot affect Change. Only consciousness Can. Therefore I am Reaching out to a Man of God," she added.
On her son Rocco's birthday, Madonna said, "I feel the best gift I can give to him as a mother is to ask everyone to do whatever they can to save the innocent children trapped in the crossfire in Gaza. I'm not pointing fingers, blaming, or taking sides. Everyone is suffering."
"I am merely trying to do what I can to keep these children from dying of starvation"," she added, urging her followers to donate to humanitarian agencies such as the World Central Kitchen.
For months, humanitarian aid groups and international bodies have warned that Gaza is facing a "critical" level of hunger and that famine "is imminent" in some areas.
A late-July report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification stated that the worst-case scenario of famine is playing out in the Gaza Strip," and that "access to food and other essential items and services has plummeted to unprecedented levels."
The Vatican has not commented on Madonna's appeal. Pope Leo XIV, who began his papacy in May as the first American-born and 267th pope of the Catholic Church, has been outspoken about the famine crisis in Gaza.
Last week, during the Youth Jubilee Mass in Rome, he expressed solidarity with the children suffering from the Israeli attacks.
"In communion with Christ, our peace and hope for the world, we are closer than ever to young people who suffer the most serious evils which are caused by other human beings. We are with the young people of Gaza," he said.
Before his death in April, Pope Francis maintained daily contact with the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, the parish priest of the only Catholic church in the territory told ABC News.
Israel has faced mounting condemnation for its war in Gaza, which has killed over 61,500 people since October 2023, devastated the enclave, and pushed it to the brink of famine.
On Tuesday, August 12, 2025, the Ministry of Health reported that five more Palestinians, including two children, had died of starvation, bringing the total to 227, with 103 of them children, Al Jazeera reported.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
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