Pope Francis is calling for prayer and fasting on October 7, the first anniversary of the start of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. As the death and destruction continue, so too do the daily phone calls from the pope to the Catholic Holy Family Church parish in Gaza City, offering spiritual sustenance to the priests, nuns and parishioners seeking shelter there.

At the start of a special synod on October 2 of Catholic clergy, nuns, and laity in Rome, Francis issued a call to prayer and fasting on the anniversary of the Gaza war as the conflict widens in the Middle East.

Pope Francis said that the Church is always at the service of humanity “especially in this dramatic hour of our history, as the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to ravage entire peoples and nations.”

The pontiff asked everyone to take part in a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world on October 7.

The Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest at the church in Gaza City, told Vatican Radio the pope calls every day to give the people there “words of comfort and his blessing.” The priest said the pope “asks us to protect the children and always encourages us to keep going.”