Patriarch: Amid ‘turmoil of hatred, violence,’ Christians in Holy Land keep spiritual life alive

JERUSALEM (OSV News) — In a year filled with the “turmoil of hatred and violence” — which Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa described as “terrible, horrible,” it has been very important to keep the “spiritual life of the Christian community,” as well as his own, “alive,” the patriarch said.

“Remaining attached to my spiritual roots was very important,” the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem told OSV News in an Oct. 4 interview, ahead of the year mark of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on southern Israeli communities that left 1,200 people murdered and 250 taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.

It also led to the Israeli military operation into Gaza, which has turned into the devastating Israel-Hamas war that to date has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza Health Ministry, including Hamas militia members.

Though people to some extent become used to living in a war situation, Cardinal Pizzaballa said, the war has had a “terrible impact” on both the Israeli and Palestinian populations.

What is missing is political leadership with a clear exit strategy, he said.

“You need someone that politically will say: Stop this now,” he said.

The cardinal noted that in almost every Angelus prayer on Sunday Pope Francis continues to call for a cease-fire and the freeing of the hostages remaining in Gaza.

“They are hostages of this endless negotiation,” said Cardinal Pizzaballa.

Pope Francis prayed for the release of hostages Oct. 6 after his Angelus prayer, urging an immediate cease-fire.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, he said, the Middle East has plunged “into a condition marked by increasing suffering, with destructive military actions continuing to strike the Palestinian people,” most of them “innocent civilians,” the pope said.

“I call for an immediate ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon. Let us pray for the Lebanese, especially for those who live in the south, who are forced to leave their villages,” the pope said.

In reaching for a cease-fire, it is important to not confuse peace with victory, Cardinal Pizzaballa told OSV News.

“A cease-fire requires the idea that we need to find a kind of settlement with the other, and not to simply destroy the other. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a peace. Peace can come later, in a long time. But now at least we have to stop the violence, physical violence, because violence is never a solution,” he said. “No one wants an escalation, but no one is able to stop the escalation.”

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem called for a day of fasting, prayer and penance for his diocese on Oct. 7, with prayers taking place at the Latin patriarchate’s co-Cathedral.

Pope Francis joined the patriarch the day before and led the recitation of the rosary for peace Oct. 6 at Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major.

Papal almoner Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity asked Synod members in Rome to give alms after their synodal session on Oct. 7, as almsgiving “must make us suffer, must hurt us, because we give up what belongs to us in order to give to our neighbor who is in need or even about to die,” he told OSV News.

All funds collected in a “big, huge,” basket in front of the synod hall will be sent to Father Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest at Gaza City’s Holy Family Parish, “whom the pope calls every day,” Cardinal Krajewski said.

In his interview with OSV News, Cardinal Pizzaballa warned that it would be incorrect to have a “magical” approach to prayer.

“The role of prayer is not to solve the problems of life. You have to solve those according to what is necessary to do for them from a different point of view or perspective. The role of prayer is in the relationship with God, it also changes our heart,” he said, noting that he too feels the need for penance and purification in his heart.

“This year my heart was not exempt from the temptation of closeness, hatred, anger. We are human beings after all. So we need prayer, penance, in order to be capable of looking at this reality from a spiritual perspective, from the Gospel perspective, not just from a human perspective,” he told OSV News.

People are more attached to their faith in this dramatic time, he said, and along with the parish priests he tries to be present with pastoral visits to parishioners in his dioceses.

“Solidarity and unity are important,” he said.

The feelings of hatred, anger and pain among people continue to be high among both Palestinians and Israelis, “with more violence, more destruction, more victims,” he said. With a permeating feeling of “pessimism in both societies, there is no room for the other in their hearts,” he said, “and there is no time for dialogue.”

The cardinal stressed that “dialogue means you are ready to listen to the other, and in your heart there is room for the other. Now everyone’s heart is so full of hatred,” he said. “Everyone is so full of pain that there is no room for the other. You have to wait. At least until the violence, the physical and military violence of the storm is over.”

The right language of discourse must be applied to help find the right words for discussion, he said.

“We need words also for our heart, for reflection. I think we always use the same words: peace, hope, hatred, hopelessness — and so on. But we need to put in new content,” added Cardinal Pizzaballa.

The fighting extended into Lebanon late September where Hezbollah, a close ally of Hamas, backed by Iran, has been launching missiles into Israel since the Oct. 7 Israeli-Hamas war began, with some 60,000 Israeli residents from the north evacuated from their homes.

More than a million people have been affected by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, 90 percent of them fleeing their homes in just a week, while 2,000 have died and 10,000 have been wounded, according to Caritas.

Cardinal Pizzaballa said support from the international community should not be in the form of repeating divisions already present between Palestinians and Israelis.

“We need to be supported in helping us to understand that we, all Palestinians and Israelis, will remain here and we have to find a creative way to live here. So the international community should support us in this,” he said of the Christian community in the Holy Land.

The situation in Gaza has been “catastrophic” over the past year, the patriarch said, with almost half of the community — which has been sheltering in the two Christian parish compounds in Gaza City — having either left Gaza or died, some in sniper attacks. There are now about 600 Christians left in Gaza, he said.

The patriarchate has been continuing its efforts to provide support to the community in the form of humanitarian supplies, the cardinal stressed. Though not directly involved in the war, Christians in the Bethlehem area — as well as all Palestinians throughout the West Bank — have been affected economically as an outcome, as tourism and pilgrimages have come to a halt and Palestinians who previously worked in Israel are prevented from crossing into Israel.

In the West Bank the patriarchate continues to implement their job creation program, supporting families financially when possible and providing scholarships for students, Cardinal Pizzaballa told OSV News.

While the patriarch said he has seen the weakness of the political and religious institutions on both sides in light of the war — he has also been strengthened by the desire of the people to do something to help in solidarity and closeness.

“You see a network (of helpers) that was not that visible before,” he said.

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