The document notified to Don Nandino Capovilla by Israeli officials
“We arrived this afternoon in Tel Aviv with a group of fifteen people from Pax Christi and coming from Rome and Venice for a pilgrimage of peace to the Holy Land in the context of the” Ponti Non Muri “campaign. There was also among us Don Nandino Capovilla (above, in a repertoire photo, editor’s note), parish priest in Marghera (Venice), from 2009 to 2013 national coordinator of Pax Christi Italia. We managed to pass the controls, he did not. He was notified of a refusal to enter the motivated country with “Considerations relating to public security, public safety or public order”, As stated in English and Israeli on the document ».
It is the testimony of Monsignor Giovanni Ricchiutinational president of Pax Christi, from the airport Ben Gurion by Tel Aviv: “I immediately contacted the patriarchate of Jerusalem and also warned the president of the CEI, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi,” he says on the phone, “I can’t understand why Don Nandino was blocked. He has never been tender with the policy of the Israeli government and recently published a book, Under the sky of Gaza (Edizioni La Meridiana), written together with Betta Tusset, in which he tells what is happening in the strip after October 7 through the testimonies of a long -term official of the United Nations in Gaza. In the book there are also the stories of the Palestinians and prayers of Monsignor Michel Sabbah, Patriarca emeritus of Jerusalem of the Latins from 1987 to 2008. I don’t know if it is for this book that has received the ban on entering the country. I also made several statements, even hard, on the policy of the Netanyahu government but I have not been retained ».
With Christian family Ricchiuti reconstructs what happened: “Don Nandino was blocked and brought to a room and we haven’t seen him anymore»He explains,” I also made several statements against the Netanyahu government but I still managed to pass. It is an unfortunate and very worrying situation ».
Ricchiuti explains the meaning of this pilgrimage for some time and which will last a week, until August 18: «We are directed to Jerusalem, where we asked to meet Cardinal Pizzaballa, and then we will move to Bethlehem and in some Palestinian village. We want to speak with the authorities, ordinary people and also establish contact the Israeli pacifist movements that do not tolerate the employment policy pursued by the government of their country in the Gaza strip. I also asked Cardinal Zuppi to accompany us with friendship and above all prayer. We honestly did not expect that the journey began in this way ».
