Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, says “we cannot speak of peace at the moment.”
The cardinal was participating at the annual “Meeting” in Rimini, Italy’s highest-profile Catholic summit sponsored by the Communion and Liberation movement.
Israel began the war with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking over 200 more as hostages.
The conflict has been violent, killing an estimated 40,000 Palestinians, and causing outrage among the international Islamic world.
Speaking to Vatican News, Pizzaballa said there is a need to “work for a ceasefire, to halt military operations to begin a healing process, to build trust in one another.”
“The path is there, but the desire to follow it at an institutional level is lacking; it requires political and religious leadership capable of solving the crisis,” the cardinal said.
He emphasized the importance of having hope.
“Hope does not mean that things are about to end; the short-term outlook is not positive. Hope is an inner attitude that enables one to see with the eyes of the Spirit what human eyes do not see,” he said.
There are only a few hundred Catholics in Gaza, and the one parish has been housing several trying to escape the violence.
The patriarch recalled the commitment to open clinics, reopen a school that has been closed for a year, and restart the dynamics of “normal” relationships.
“But which help, to escape from a cloak of oppression to create work opportunities, even if they are lacking,” he said.
Concluding his interview with Vatican News, Pizzaballa said everyone can do something to create peace.
“Peace is a culture, not something one must do; it is politics, it is education, it is the commitment of the media, it is working in all aspects, in a globalized world where no one is an island. Peace is a culture,” he said.
While giving his speech at the Rimini Meeting, Pizzaballa reflected on his 35 years of life in the Holy Land and his growth in interreligious dialogue.
“We are at a decisive, critical moment, with ongoing dialogues,” he said.
“The war will end; I hope that something will be resolved through negotiations: I have my doubts, but it’s the last train,” the cardinal said.
The patriarch said there was now a risk of “degeneration.”
The language of mutual rejection has become a daily matter that is breathed in by the media, and it is something truly dramatic,” he said.
He encouraged Christians to pray, especially to counter “those attitudes of hatred, mistrust, and deep contempt” that are felt.
“This situation is a watershed; there are no public meetings, and at the institutional level, we are struggling to talk to each other. We cannot meet,” Pizzaballa said.
“Peace is a culture. It is not something one has to do. It is politics; it is education; it is commitment of the media; it is working at 360 degrees in a globalized world where no one is an island. Peace is a culture,” the cardinal said.
