Pope marks six-month anniversary of Hamas attacks by meeting with relatives of hostages

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has met with relatives of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. The audience Monday marked the six-month anniversary of the attack in southern Israel. The Vatican released photos of the encounter, showing the relatives of several of the hostages sitting in a semicircle in front of Francis in his private library in the Apostolic Palace. Each one held a poster with a photo and the name of a loved one. It was the second time Francis has met with relatives of the hostages. On Nov. 22, he met with a delegation of Israelis, and then separately a delegation of Palestinians whose relatives had been harmed during the long Mideast conflict.