Muhamad Yehia.. Cairo

In the past year and a half of war, Francis became increasingly outspoken in his criticism of the Israeli military’s harsh tactics. A month into the war, he urged an investigation into whether Israel’s war amounted to genocide — a charge Israel vehemently denies.

In December, Francis expressed his pain when thinking about Gaza, “of such cruelty, to the machine-gunning of children, to the bombing of schools and hospitals. … How much cruelty!” The next month, he called the ongoing humanitarian crisis “very serious and shameful.”

In Israel, the pope left a more complicated legacy. He was widely appreciated for his outreach to the Jewish people and tough stance against antisemitism. He also was an advocate for freeing the hostages held by Hamas, meeting with their famil

Francis had a frequent evening ritual during the war in Gaza. He would call the Palestinian territory’s lone Catholic church to see how people huddled there were coping.

“He called us last time, it was Saturday, Holy Saturday, two days ago, and he asked us to pray and gave us a blessing and thanked us for all the service for peace,” said the Rev. Gabriele Romanielli at the church in Gaza City.

The pope in his last public appearance on Sunday again called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Only 1,000 Christians live in overwhelmingly Muslim Gaza. Some prayed for him on Monday.

“The pope was our bigge