Cardinal Matteo Zuppi initiated a solemn recitation of names at Monte Sole’s Casaglia church ruins in Marzabotto, Italy—site of the Nazis’ worst WWII civilian massacre in 1944. Dozens of participants, young and old, took turns reading aloud the 12,227 names and ages of children killed in Israel and Palestine between October 7, 2023, and July 15, 2024. The August 14 vigil, held at a church once dedicated to the Assumption before its destruction by SS forces, featured 469 pages of names: 16 Israeli and 12,211 Palestinian minors.
Organized by the monastic community Piccola Famiglia dell’Annunziata, the prayer marathon blended grief with calls for peace. “We remember from this place of perpetual suffering and memorial,” stated Cardinal Zuppi, urging distance from “murderous ideologies that reduce others to objects.” He emphasized: “Innocent children’s suffering must ignite new beginnings—starting with a ceasefire, hostage releases, and rejecting collective punishment.”
Concurrently, Gaza’s Holy Family parish priest Gabriele Romanelli warned of catastrophic conditions via video message: “Bombings terrorize over a million civilians. Gaza lacks everything: food, water, medicine, energy.” Romanelli endorsed a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for Gaza’s children, underscoring the humanitarian crisis amid ongoing destruction.