“Being a foreigner is typical of this land; you never entirely belong to anyone or anything. Right now being a foreigner also means trying to have a more detached perspective, one that could help everyone to take the necessary distance from things. It also means accepting misunderstanding and the loneliness that is typical of all positions of responsibility.”
As throughout the world, in the Holy Land, the Church shares in the suffering of people on all fronts of the conflict. The Church counts as members of its flock the Christian community that lives in Gaza,; those who live in Israel, including some of its young people who are in military service or called up as reservists; and those in the Palestinian Territories, where problems are ever-present, exacerbated by roadblocks, closures of businesses, and an increase in violent settler incursions in some areas.
“We do not pray for those who are right or wrong. We pray for those who are at war. My prayer,” the cardinal said, “is that everyone maintains their consciousness of their dignity and the dignity of every human being.”
As patriarch of Jerusalem, Pizzaballa has visited the community in Gaza several times in recent years, a community of about a thousand Christians of various denominations.
“Their suffering touches my heart first and foremost from a human perspective: I know them personally, I’ve been in their homes, I’ve shared their coffee,” he explained.
“Despite being a small community living in a very complex situation,” Pizzaballa said in the interview. “I have always found them [Christians in Gaza] serene, people at peace — shaken, with so many problems, but never a word of complaint, condemnation, or anger. It’s a community with the problems of all communities, but with a simple and solid faith, and that is a source of comfort,” especially in these dark times. “But it is in the darkness that the light shines the brightest.”
On a humanitarian level, “so far they have everything they need,” but “we are still in the emergency management phase,” said the patriarch, who met with representatives of humanitarian organizations affiliated with various Christian churches two weeks ago.
“There is coordination at the local level among the churches,” he said. “We are in contact with the Vatican through the Secretariat of State and also, in a special way, with the Anglican Church.”
Recently, the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, paid a visit to Jerusalem in a show of solidarity. Regarding the possibility of humanitarian solutions for the Gaza Strip, “the Church is in contact with all the instances that have a decision-making power on this,” Pizzaballa said.
Christians in the Holy Land gathered together to pray, especially during the two days of prayer for peace. In both instances, there was an escalation of violence in Gaza in the hours immediately following: first, the Anglican Al Ahli Hospital and the Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius were struck; at the end of the second day of prayer, the Israeli army launched a ground offensive.
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“We must avoid having a magical or consumerist approach to prayer,” the cardinal explained. “We need to move beyond the logic of results. Praying together first of all has a very significant impact on the life of the community. Whether prayer can trigger a response of evil, I am sure it does. In what we are experiencing, there is such wickedness that it cannot be solely human.”
Speaking about forgiveness in this situation and society is no simple matter, Pizzaballa said.
“Here, forgiveness is primarily seen as a sign of weakness, and secondly, it can be perceived as a justification for injustice,” the patriarch said.
“Without forgiveness, without the ability to move beyond the evil committed, we will never get out of this situation. But the timing and methods are not easy to determine,” he said.
He said he is hopeful that in time, progress can be made.
“We are still at a time where emotions play a very important role in interpersonal and community relationships. The question of rebuilding healthy relationships will certainly arise: Trust between Israelis and Palestinians has been wounded in a very deep way.”
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