Happy Hanukkah and a hug to the Jewish community in times of great pain

During these days, Jewish communities around the world celebrate Hanukkah, their beloved and familiar Festival of Lights.

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This year, Hanukkah is colored by great pain: that of the largest massacre that the Jewish community has suffered since the Holocaust, at the hands of Hamas terrorists. A massacre driven by a monster of hate that we thought defeated, but that unfortunately has re-emerged with force: antisemitism.

I am Catholic and I feel a special affection for the Jewish community, our "older brothers", as Pope Saint John Paul II defined them. I feel every attack on the Jewish community as an attack on my people, because you are, because the root of Western culture is Judeo-Christian and what the people of Israel are suffering is a new act of barbarism against our civilization. For this reason I send you a big hug and all my love. Happy Hanukkah to the entire Jewish community! Shalom Aleichem, may peace be with you.

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Photo: iStock.