By Aysu Bicer
LONDON (AA) - The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales on Monday condemned the "cold-blooded killing" of two women by an Israeli sniper at a Catholic church in Gaza.
"What absolutely puzzles me is this there’s nothing to further Israel's right to defend itself, which I understand," Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols told SkyNews.
"The killing of evidently vulnerable and innocent people seems to me to set back what Israel says it's trying to achieve," Nichols added.
"Anyone with a faith goes through dark times. And there's no doubt that the capacity of human beings for violence and cruelty is astonishing. And all of this within what has been clearly designated as a church place, which I cannot believe for a minute as rocket launches in it. And it's a community that since October has sheltered hundreds of people and looked after them," he said.
When reminded that the Israeli army denied allegations that it had attacked the church, Nichols said: "That's hard to believe, frankly, because the people in Gaza and the cardinal Archbishop of Jerusalem they're not given to tell lies."
Meanwhile, Pope Francis on Sunday described Israel's attacks on Christians and churches in Gaza as "terrorism."
Addressing Sunday mass worshippers at St. Peter's Square, he said: "Let us not forget our brothers suffering from wars in Ukraine, in Palestine and Israel, and in other conflict regions. May the approach of Christmas strengthen the commitment to open paths of peace."
He deplored troubling news from Gaza, where “unarmed civilians are targets of bombings and gunfire.”