The Catholic Church in Jerusalem and the Israeli Catholic community are disappointed with Israel’s muted response to the death of Pope Francis, a reticence compounded by the Foreign Ministry’s deleting of its condolence posts.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog have each posted condolence messages, while Herzog and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel have called the Latin patriarch in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu’s message, however, came very late, on Thursday, three days after Herzog’s post on the day of the pope’s death at 88. And Israel is only sending its ambassador to the Vatican, Yaron Sideman, to Saturday’s funeral.
A senior Church official in Israel who requested anonymity told Haaretz, referring to the Latin patriarch in Jerusalem: “He’s a man who is very much aware of what’s going on, and it must have reached the heads of the Church.”
The patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, is in Rome for the funeral and is a candidate to succeed Pope Francis.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, sings along with his joyful faithful community – as he departs to Rome to attend Pope Francis’ funeral and to participate in the upcoming Conclave.
Pizzaballa is considered by many, a papabile. pic.twitter.com/BSC2dS6Csk
— Catholics for Catholics 🇺🇲 (@CforCatholics) April 24, 2025
An adviser to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Farid Jubran, said he was speaking to Haaretz as an Israeli citizen and a Christian, not for the Patriarchate.
“In Israel there are around 200,000 Christians, about half of them Catholics, but the pope’s death pertains to all Christians. True, the official head of state did his duty and condolence calls were received from President Herzog and Interior Minister Arbel.”
Jubran also mentioned the death last week of a leading Israeli rabbi, Meir Mazuz. “Condolences came in from all parts of the political spectrum – from the ministers, the government, the prime minister,” Jubran said.
When John Paul II died in 2005 – the last time a pope died in office – Israel was represented at his funeral by its president, foreign minister, the Supreme Court and the Chief Rabbinate. In 2022, Herzog attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
Pope Francis’ funeral will be attended by world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Argentine President Javier Milei and U.S. President Donald Trump.
As Jubran put it, “Trump thinks coming to the funeral is the right thing to do. It’s very strange that the Israeli government is ignoring it.”
A senior Church official who spoke to Haaretz said the mass in the pope’s memory at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre mentioned Francis’ statements “about hoping for the hostages‘ return and the end to the war.”
The official also mentioned Pope Francis’ meeting with families of hostages and released hostages, noting that the issue was very important to him. “One of the cardinals closest to the pope would call one of the hostages’ mother every day, ask how she was and tell her he was praying for his release,” the official said.
Jubran added: “I can imagine there’s dissatisfaction with the pope’s criticism of the war in Gaza. But criticism is legitimate. It has been heard from almost every country in the world.
“We mustn’t forget all the things the pope did in the wider context – his meetings with the hostages’ families, his absolute condemnation of antisemitism, his personal letter to Israel’s Jewish residents” at the beginning of 2024.
In a letter Wednesday to Netanyahu, the Forum of Holy Land Christians said: “Preventing official expressions of mourning at such a time is unconscionable and stands in stark contradiction to Israel’s repeated declarations on respecting pluralism, all faiths and pluralism.”
According to Israeli news site Ynet, the now-deleted post from the country’s verified X account, which is linked to the Foreign Ministry’s account, originally read: “Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing,” alongside an image of the pope at the Western Wall. Within hours, Israeli embassies around the world were instructed to delete any similar messages, a diplomat told Ynet.
“It’s not just that we didn’t offer condolences – we actively deleted them. It looks bad,” said another diplomat. In internal Foreign Ministry WhatsApp groups, diplomats warned that the move could seriously damage Israel’s image, particularly in predominantly Catholic countries.
Some of the ambassadors believe the deletion was linked to the pope’s outspoken criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. “We deleted a simple, innocent tweet expressing basic condolences – clearly because of the pope’s criticism of Israel,” one diplomat wrote.
The Foreign Ministry did not elaborate beyond stating that its post was an error, with a senior official adding, “We responded to the pope’s statements against Israel during his life, and we will not do so after his death. We respect the feelings of his followers.”
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