Pílulas Litúrgicas / Wikimedia Commons (Left), Adobe Stock (Right)
CV NEWS FEED // The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa published a letter on October 7, marking the anniversary of the violence in southern Israel and calling for peace “at the end of one of the most difficult and painful years of recent times.”
Cardinal Pizzaballa began his letter by recalling the horrors of the October 7 massacre, which he said left a “deep wound” on the Israeli people. The Patriarch condemned the cycle of violence and revenge that has unfolded since, urging for peace, justice, and dignity for all.
“Hatred, grief and anger seem to have taken over our hearts, leaving no room for any other feelings but rejecting the other and their suffering,” he wrote.
He emphasized that “violence, aggression, and wars will never create peace and security,” and called for the courage to open pathways to a peaceful future.
CatholicVote reported in October 2023 that Cardinal Pizzaballa had “offered himself in exchange” for children kidnapped by Hamas in the aftermath of the October 7 Israeli massacre.
“We have pointed to the need to build a common future for this land based on justice and dignity for all its inhabitants,” Cardinal Pizzaballa wrote in his letter.
This building of a future must begin, according to the Cardinal, “with the Palestinian people, who can no longer wait for their right to independence, which has been postponed for far too long.”
The Cardinal acknowledged the support from Pope Francis and the global Christian community. The Pope, he noted, has called on “all parties” to stop the violence and has offered both moral and practical support to those affected by the conflict, especially the Christians in Gaza.
CatholicVote reported that Pope Francis called for October 7 to be a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the Middle East.
However, Cardinal Pizzaballa recognized the strain this year has placed on people’s faith, as concepts like “hope,” “peace,” and “coexistence,” seem “theoretical and far from reality” in the face of constant violence.
However, he continued, “… it is exactly here that our Christian faith must find a visible expression.”
He encouraged the faithful to continue trusting in God’s word, urging them to live out Christian virtues, as that is “our main mission as a church.”
“We are called to read these challenges in the light of the Word of God,” he wrote, “a Word that accompanies and widens our hearts.”
“In this time when violence seems to be the only language, we will continue to speak of and believe in forgiveness and reconciliation,” Cardinal Pizaballa said.
“Even if we have to start anew every day, even if we may be seen as irrelevant and useless, we will continue to be faithful to the love that has won us and be new people in Christ, here in Jerusalem, in the Holy Land, and wherever we are,” he said.
In the hope of ending the “vortex of violence and hatred never seen or experienced before,” Cardinal Pizaballa also called for October 7 to be a day of prayer and penance, CatholicVote reported.
“That is why we are here today. That is why we fast and pray,” the Cardinal concluded.
“To purify our hearts, to renew in us the desire for prosperity and peace with the power of prayer and the encounter with Christ, and to believe that these are not just words, but life lived,” he said, adding, “Here too, in the Holy Land.”
