A shroud physically larger than Christ’s, but no less terrifying. It measures 27 meters long by 5 meters wide and bears the names of more than 18,000 children killed in Gaza during Israeli army bombings under the orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This initiative stems from the commitment of citizens, associations, and organizations working for peace, who wish to reaffirm the need for humanity, justice, and protection of the rights of all affected populations, calling for a reminder of the consequences of conflict for young people.

This initiative brings to mind when Cardinal Matteo Zuppi read on August 14, 2025, the names of the children killed in Israel and Gaza during the current conflict. He began with the 16 Jewish children killed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and continued with the 12,000 children killed in Gaza up to that point.

And since “they are not numbers, but people,” the cardinal expressed his hope that the gesture would become “a prayer for an end to the violence, for a ceasefire, and for peace.” He added his hope that “it will lead to appropriate responses: the suffering of children, above all, must be felt.”

Today’s edition of the newspaper Avvenire, Thursday, May 28, explains that “the hands of women and men from a small Italian town, Caneva di Tolmezzo, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, wrote the names of the 18,457 children killed in the Gaza Strip during the first 22 months of the conflict, between October 7, 2023, and July 31, 2025.”
It adds that this figure does not include “the casualties suffered during the three months of the subsequent offensive, and those that continue to rise, despite the ceasefire in effect since October 10.”

Yesterday, at the conclusion of the general audience, Pope Leo XIV addressed the conflict in Ukraine caused by Russian aggression, a sentiment that applies to all conflicts, including Gaza: “I wish to express my closeness to those who are suffering because of the recent attacks perpetrated also against civilians. War does not solve problems, but rather exacerbates them. It does not build security, but rather multiplies suffering and hatred. Where missiles and drones fall, hopes also fall, homes and places of worship are destroyed, and innocent lives are cut short. I entrust all peoples wounded by war to the protection of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace.”

And a question arises: How will history judge us for this massacre that, thanks to the media, is being experienced almost live?