Credit: Daniel Ibáñez
CV NEWS FEED // On Palm Sunday, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem urged pilgrims and local Catholics to remain steadfast in hope amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict, encouraging them to find courage in the victory of Christ’s resurrection.
“We know that we are living in difficult times,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa said April 13. However, Palm Sunday’s message must go further than speaking on this suffering, and focus on “what matters most.”
“We are here today, local Christians and pilgrims, all together, to say strongly that we are not afraid,” he said. “We are the children of light and resurrection, of life. We hope and believe in the love that overcomes everything.”
The cardinal noted that the Church is about to begin Holy Week, which centers on Christ’s Passion.
“But we also know that the Passion of Jesus is not God’s last word on the world,” he said. “The Risen One is His last word, and we are here to say and reaffirm it again. We have encountered Him. And we are here to cry it out, strongly, confidently, and with all the love we can, which no one can ever extinguish. No one will separate us from our love for Jesus.”
This love for Jesus is first witnessed through unity and willingness to forgive one another, he said. Palm Sunday celebrates Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, recounting how the people put cloaks, palms, and branches at Jesus’ feet and welcomed Him as King and Messiah. Similarly, the cardinal encouraged the faithful to bring their burdens to Jesus.
“And here, today, despite everything, at the gates of His and our city, once again we declare that we truly want to welcome Him as our King and Messiah, and to follow Him on His way to His throne, the cross, which is not a symbol of death, but of love,” he said.
>> Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem: Only Jesus can provide meaning, peace in current violent times <<
The cardinal encouraged the faithful to not fear those who seek division, or “those who want to exclude or those who want to take possession of the soul of this Holy City, because forever and ever Jerusalem will remain a house of prayer for all peoples (Is 56:7), and no one will be able to possess it. As I keep repeating, we belong to this city and no one can separate us from our love for the Holy City, just as no one can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35).”
Jerusalem, where Jesus died and rose again, is a place of reconciliation, the cardinal said. It is the Christian vocation, he continued, to pursue unity and hope.
“This is and remains our strength and this will always be our witness, despite our many limitations,” he concluded. “Let us not be discouraged, then. Let us not lose heart. Let us not lose hope. And let us not be afraid but look up with confidence and once again renew our sincere and concrete commitment to peace and unity, with firm confidence (cf. Heb. 3:14) in the power of Christ’s love!”
