The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem speaks of the “cry of the poor” triggered by the conflict in Gaza and which affects the entire region: “We share water, food, medicine and facilities with families of different religions, but in addition to material support we must “Trust and hope must also be rebuilt,” said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
Mário Galgano – Vatican City
After Hamas’ inhumane attack on Israel on October 7th and the hostages still in their hands, one can feel the terrible domino effect of any war, which destroys not only where the bombs fall, but everywhere it destabilizes the spread. of the waves. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa makes this clear on the website of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The home page has now become the mouthpiece for his appeals. “The current crisis has caused not only deaths, destruction and hunger in Gaza, but also high unemployment, especially in the Bethlehem area, and other social problems throughout the Holy Land”, writes the cardinal, speaking of the difficult situation, in which there is they are “countless families of different religions”.
Always generous
“We share virtually everything, from food to water, from medicine to supplies,” said Cardinal Pizzaballa. “Our material resources have been extended beyond our walls to include suffering neighbors and those who have found refuge elsewhere,” he adds. A fragile image that once again echoes the “cry of the poor” that has already sounded several times from the Holy Land and which, as the Patriarch of Jerusalem recognizes, has been heard several times around the world, so that many lives have been saved. He thinks about the pandemic in Gaza in 2021, the explosion in the port of Beirut, the earthquake in Syria and Turkey.
Sowing the seeds of trust
This help is again urgently needed and “hundreds of people from all over the world”, said Cardinal Pizzaballa, “have contacted us and have already helped us to offer concrete support”. But something else, equally important, is needed now: “In these difficult times,” said the cardinal, “we have learned that to rebuild the physical world, we must build and protect trust between people.” “Help us,” he concludes, “to create the necessary framework so that the seeds of trust, hope and love can continue to grow in this hateful society.”
(Vatican news)