IT TOOK 7 HOURS

 


An exceptionally powerful moment occurred on August 14, 2025, on the eve of the Solemnity of the Assumption.

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna and head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, led a deeply moving prayer vigil at the ruins of the Church of Casaglia, located in the peace park of Monte Sole di Marzabotto near Bologna, Italy.



The choice of the Church of Casaglia was intensely deliberate. Between September 29 and October 5, 1944, Nazi SS troops tore through the area in what became known as the Marzabotto massacre, murdering roughly 770 civilians—predominantly women and children. The historic church itself was burned down. By standing in those exact ruins to mourn a modern conflict, the vigil tied the horrors of past war crimes directly to the ongoing tragedy in the Middle East.



Cardinal Zuppi, alongside dozens of members of his diocese and a local monastic community, took turns reading from a staggering 469-page document. The list intended to honor every single child who had been killed in the war up until July 25, 2025.

The 12,211 Palestinian children killed during the subsequent military operations in Gaza (compiled from data provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health).



The 16 Israeli children killed during the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas (compiled from official Israeli government data).



Beginning in the late afternoon and continuing under floodlights long into the night, the reading took more than seven hours to complete.

As of June 2026, data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and United Nations updates indicates the total number of child fatalities in Gaza since the beginning of the war (October 7, 2023) has surpassed 21,200.



An additional 10,000 Palestinian children have been murdered by Israel since that event on August 14, 2025 at the ruins of the Church of Casaglia

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