The Pope's social commissioner traveled to the Holy Land to pray for peace this Christmas alongside the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the local Church. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski will express “the Pope’s closeness” to the people of the Holy Land.
Mário Galgano – Vatican City
Peace was and is not a given in this year that is coming to an end. To send a clear signal in this regard, Pope Francis sent the head of the papal alms office to the Holy Land. In his numerous appeals, especially this Christmas season, Francis called for an end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, but also for the “martyred” Ukraine, which has been suffering for almost two years. The head of the Catholic Church has repeatedly called for an end to wars and violence. In this “Third World War in pieces” – as Francis describes it – prayer must become an action and a concrete mission, according to the appeal of the Pope, who therefore sent Cardinal Konrad Krajewski to the Holy Land. It should be understood “as a concrete sign”, says a statement from the Dicastery for Charitable Service. In this way, the Pope expresses “his sympathy for the suffering of those who personally experience the consequences of war”.
“It is truly the Holy Father’s desire,” he continues, “that this trip be accompanied by prayer, in order to obtain the gift of peace in the areas where the sound of weapons still resounds.” A peace that will be invoked in a great prayer that the Master of Almoners – the name of the position held by Cardinal Krajewski – will say together with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the entire local Church, “for the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace and the only hope of the world.”
Missions of prayer, help and peace
For Cardinal Krajewski it will once again be a Christmas away from Rome. Last year he traveled to Ukraine to bring thermal shirts to the population, which had also been donated by thousands of people through an online initiative, but also to deliver electricity generators. Material and spiritual help are the two ways in which the Almoner fulfills his mission. Also at Easter, another “wedding” for the Church, the Pope's closeness to the Ukrainian people was felt, touching images of his prayer before the mass graves of Borodianka, one of the areas most devastated by the war. The cardinal arrived in the Holy Land with a prayer in his heart, the same prayer that Pope Francis said on June 8, 2014 in the Vatican Gardens, in the presence of Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A prayer recalled in the “Elemosineria” (Alms) statement and which is still very relevant today:
Lord God of peace, hear our pleas!
Give us your peace, teach us peace, lead us to peace. Open our eyes and our hearts and give us the courage to say: “No more war!”; “War destroys everything!” Give us the courage to make concrete gestures to create peace. And banish these words from the heart of every human being: division, hatred, war! Lord, disarm tongues and hands, renew hearts and minds, so that the Word that unites us is always “Brother” and becomes the style of our lives: Shalom, Peace, Salam!
(Vatican news)