Madonna has appealed directly to Pope Leo XIV to undertake an urgent visit to Gaza, writing in a social-media post on 11 Aug. that the pontiff should “bring your light to the children before it’s too late.” The 66-year-old singer, marking her son Rocco’s 25th birthday, said politics had failed to ease the war’s toll and that only “consciousness” might unlock blocked humanitarian corridors. In her message the performer asked that humanitarian gates be “fully opened” and stressed she was “not pointing fingers” but trying to prevent children from dying of starvation. UNICEF estimates that more than 18,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the conflict erupted in October 2023, while the territory’s Health Ministry puts the overall death toll at about 61,600. The World Health Organization has warned of “man-made mass starvation.” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus publicly thanked Madonna for her “compassion and solidarity.” The Vatican has yet to respond, though Pope Leo XIV—installed in May and the first U.S.-born pope—called last month for an immediate cease-fire and urged protection of civilians, saying he was following Gaza’s escalating hunger crisis “with great concern.”