Madonna has called on Pope Leo to go to Gaza and “bring your light to the children”.
“Most Holy Father, Please go to Gaza and bring your light to the children before it’s too late,” the American singer wrote in an Instagram post on Monday evening.
She added that as a mother, she could not bear to watch their suffering.
“The children of the world belong to everyone,” the pop superstar said.
“You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry.”
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Last month, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the highest-ranking Catholic official in Jerusalem, made a rare visit to Gaza alongside Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem.
The visit was made days after an Israeli strike on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City – the last Catholic church in the enclave – killed three Palestinians and wounded several others.
Pope Leo’s initial response to the attack, which acknowledged the loss of life but did not name Israel as the attacker, drew backlash and comparisons to his predecessor Pope Francis, who was outspoken in his condemnation of Israel’s war. He later attributed the attack to the Israeli army.
Madonna’s plea adds to a chorus of voices urging the pontiff to break the siege on Gaza and lead an urgent mission to the enclave.
‘Break the siege’: Calls mount for Pope Leo to visit Gaza
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The singer called on the “humanitarian gates to be fully opened” to save children in the Palestinian territory.
Israel has imposed a near-total blockade on the entry of food and humanitarian assistance into Gaza since March, leading to widespread starvation and malnutrition.
Since late May, the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has taken control of aid distribution in the enclave.
However, it has handed out a small fraction of the aid needed, and at least 1,800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid – most of them near GHF sites, which are heavily militarised.
At least 222 Palestinians have died of starvation since the war began, of whom 101 are children, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza.
Madonna’s run-in with popes
Madonna’s statement fell well short of criticising Israeli actions in Gaza.
“I am 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.
“I am merely trying to do what I can to keep these children from dying of starvation.”
She said that politics “cannot affect change”, and that only “consciousness can”, which was why she was reaching out “to a Man of God”.
Madonna was raised as a Roman Catholic, and has often used Catholic imagery in her songs and music videos.
Her provocative representations of religious themes – including burning crosses and pole-dancing nuns – have resulted in run-ins with the Catholic church and popes spanning decades.
In 1990, Pope John Paul II described The Blond Ambition Tour as “one of the most satanic shows in the history of humanity”.
Her Confessions tour in 2006 was described as a “blasphemous challenge to the faith and a profanation of the cross” by Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, who was speaking with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI.
“She should be excommunicated,” Tonini said.
She sparked controversy last year after posting an AI-generated image of Pope Francis with his hand around her waist.
In June, an investigation carried out by the New York Times concluded that Madonna and Pope Leo shared an ancestor six generations ago, making them ninth cousins.
