Madonna asks Pope Leo to visit Gaza 'before it's too late'

The American superstar, who was raised a Roman Catholic, pleaded with the new pontiff to visit the enclave in an Instagram post Monday and said:

“Most Holy Father. Please go to Gaza and bring your light to the children before it’s too late. As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering. The children of the world belong to everyone. You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry.”

Madonna said she was calling on Leo to visit Gaza because “politics cannot affect change,” but “consciousness can.”

In the post, published on her son Rocco’s birthday, Madonna said the best gift she could give to him is “to ask everyone to do what they can to help save the innocent children caught in the crossfire in Gaza.”

CNN has reached out to the Vatican for comment.

Since his papacy began in May, the pope has been robust in his criticisms of Israel’s war in Gaza, consistently voicing his concern for Palestinian civilians facing Israeli bombardment.

“I am following with great concern the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the civilian population is suffering from severe hunger and remains exposed to violence and death,” he said in July, calling for a ceasefire.

According to UNICEF, the United Nations’ children’s agency, more than 18,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023.

An average of 28 children have been killed a day there, the agency said last week.

An Israeli blockade on aid to the enclave has resulted in what the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called “man-made mass starvation.”

Madonna said that she is “not pointing fingers, placing blame or taking sides.”

“Everyone is suffering. Including the mothers of the hostages. I pray that they are released as well,” she said.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus responded to Madonna’s post on Monday, thanking her for her “compassion, solidarity and commitment to care for everyone caught in the Gaza crisis, especially the children.”

“This is greatly needed. Humanity and peace must prevail,” he said.

At least 222 people – including 101 children – have died from malnutrition since the beginning of the war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Ramesh Rajasingham, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told a UN security council meeting Sunday: “This is no longer a looming hunger crisis – this is starvation, pure and simple.”

Israel tightly controls the flow of aid and personnel to the enclave.

In a rare instance in July, Israel allowed two church leaders to visit after Israel struck Gaza’s sole Catholic church, killing three people and wounding several others.

The church had served as a shelter for Gaza’s tiny Christian community throughout nearly two years of war.

Since then, Gaza’s starvation crisis has deepened, with images of emaciated children causing global alarm.

“We need the humanitarian gates to be fully opened to save these innocent children,” Madonna said. “There is no more time. Please say you will go,” she wrote.

Whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would grant the pope entry to the enclave is not certain, but Madonna’s appeal underlines growing condemnation of the 22-month war, which has caused tensions between Israel and its allies.

Australia, Canada and France have announced plans to recognise a Palestinian state, with the United Kingdom conditionally saying last month that it will recognise a Palestinian state in September if Israel does not meet criteria that includes agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.

Madonna’s comments come as a growing number of artists, including Massive Attack, Brian Eno and most recently U2, have highlighted the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

During a performance in late 2023, Madonna also criticised the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel, and Israel’s military response.

She called the war “heartbreaking.”