(OSV News) — The president of the U.S. bishops’ conference called for a special collection to bolster the Catholic Church’s response to a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as the Israel-Hamas war continues to grind on. “It is with great pastoral concern for the ongoing crisis in Gaza that I write to you today,” the archbishop, who also heads the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, said in his letter. Archbishop Broglio noted Pope Leo XIV “continues to call for a ceasefire and for aid to enter the territory, noting with great sorrow that ‘Gaza is starving.’”He said both CNEWA and CRS have well-established partnerships in the region that allow the Catholic Church to deliver aid quickly and efficiently to the Gaza Strip. ”The situation in Gaza and across the Middle East cries out for assistance of the Catholic community of the United States,” Archbishop Broglio wrote. “I ask that you take up this collection and send funds to CNEWA and CRS as soon as possible.”