06/17/2026
Seven hours. One name at a time. Until every child had been spoken for.
That was the vigil led by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, one of the most respected figures in the Catholic Church and a peace envoy who once helped reunite children separated by war.
He read the names and ages of every child who has died in the war between Israel and Gaza: the 16 Israeli children killed in the October 7 attack, and the more than 12,000 Palestinian children counted since. The names filled 469 pages.
He did it, he said, so the children would not be reduced to a number. "It is an insistent prayer so that the war may cease, so that humanity may prevail."
The reading ended late at night. Not one name was skipped.
Source: National Catholic Reporter
