Cardinal Pizzaballa asks Christians in the Holy Land to unite in prayer
Vatican news
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem calls on Christians in the Holy Land to step back from political discussions at this time of bloodshed and continued sadness and to pray together.
By Linda Bordoni
“We must leave politics behind, we must come together and pray together. Now that the wounds are bleeding, it is not the time to talk about politics,” said Cardinal Pizzaballa, stressing that it is very difficult to recognize the suffering of others when one is suffering oneself.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem was addressing a delegation from the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) which is visiting the Holy Land to show solidarity with local Christians and assess projects to help the Church in the region.
Polarization
“The situation is so polarized that if you are close to the Palestinians, the Israelis feel betrayed, and vice versa. When I talk about the suffering in Gaza, the Hebrew Catholics tell me about the areas that suffered from the attacks of October 7, and on the other side, the Palestinians only think about Gaza. Everyone wants to have a monopoly on the suffering,” he said.
Noting that the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem includes Catholics from the Hebrew Vicariate serving in the army in Gaza as well as Catholics bombed in Gaza, he expressed his conviction that the Church must avoid being sucked into the conflict and be a constructive presence.
“I am constantly told that I must remain neutral. Come with me to Gaza, talk to my people who have lost everything, and then tell me that I must remain neutral. It does not work. But we cannot participate in a political or military confrontation or a confrontation,” he said.
Provide help
Meanwhile, the Patriarchate is doing what it can to help Gaza’s small Christian community, but the situation is so volatile that it sometimes takes weeks to get aid to where it is needed.
On Thursday, the British government and the European Commission pledged to restore funding to UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, as Israeli attacks in the enclave continue and Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim responsibility for a drone strike on Tel Aviv that killed one person.
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