Cardinal Pizzaballa with the Greek-Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilus III, during the visit to the parish of the Holy Family of Gaza (Reuters)
On Monday morning, «Leone XIV received a call from Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestine state, On the recent developments of the conflict in the Gaza strip and violence in the West Bank ». The Vatican press room in a note explains that explains the topics covered: “The Pope has renewed the appeal to full compliance with international humanitarian law” and “the obligation to protect civilians and sacred places“,” The ban on the indiscriminate use of the strength and forced transfer of the population “. “Considering the humanitarian situation, the urgency of helping those who are most exposed and to allow the adequate entry of humanitarian aid has been emphasized”. In the phone call “On the recent developments of the conflict in the strip of Gaza and the violence in the West Bank”, it always reports a press release from the Vatican press room, “the Holy Father recalled the fausting anniversary of the Tenth anniversary of the global agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine, signed on June 26, 2015 and entered into force on January 2, 2016».
Meanwhile, in an interview with the Vatican media, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, He drawn a three -day visit balance in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli raid, last Thursday, had hit the parish of the Holy Family killing three people and injuring other eleven, including the parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli. «We cannot understand the reasons for all this And, as the Pope rightly said – and we also repeat it continuously – all this is not justifiable“, Pizzaballa said that on Sunday he celebrated mass in the parish hit under the noise of the bombings,” I would like to clarify one thing: we have nothing against the Jewish world and we absolutely do not want to appear as those who go against Israeli society and against Judaism, But we have the moral duty to express our criticism of politics with absolute clarity and frankness that this government is adopting to Gaza».
Pizzaballa reiterated that “the other very important thing to say is that we have never only dedicated ourselves to Christians. It was our duty, like shepherds, to visit our community, but from the beginning we have always been very clear about everything that is happening in all Gaza and All our activities, both hospitals, Caritas, aid, are mainly for the whole community, starting with our neighbors, they are for everyone. The Latin patriarchate, our diocese, arrives – when the borders still allowed it, but we will soon resume – to over 40 thousand people, they are almost all practically Muslim ».
On the visit to Gaza, Pizzaballa said that “The images that remain, with respect to me at times previous, are those of the enormous expanses of curtains that were not there before. When I went, they were all in the south, there was the Netzarim corridor that closed. They are back up, now there is more than a million people who have no living. Especially along the sea, there are long expanses of curtains, where people live in conditions of extreme precariousness both from a hygienic point of view and from any other profile. And then, the other image is the hospital: the mutilated children, blinded for the consequences of the bombings ».
Pizzaballa was hit, he explained, of the hope that animates the faithful who found refuge in the Latin parish of the Holy Family: «These few hundred people, it is true, are very protected, but they are not free from the same problems as all the others: lack of food, for months they have not seen vegetables, have not seen meat, like all the others, in short. But I see, even in children, certainly tiredness, but also vitality, desire. As long as there is a person who has a desire to do something, to change, it means that there is still life in them, and I have noticed this. “
On the feeling of celebrating Mass under the noise of the bombs, the patriarch was very clear: “The first day is a little impression, then you get used to it. I saw that nobody pays us anymore. We also happened … In short, I see that the man is able to get used to everything. Sometimes the closest shots, following which the whole building trembles, make a little impression, but then you get used to this too. It also makes an impression that the images cannot make, smell, smoking, the smell of explosions, the smell that leave “.
On the order of evacuation by Israel, Pizzaballa said that «C‘It is those who will certainly start, but the majority will remain there. He doesn’t know where to go, first of all, but he doesn’t even want to leave, because he has roots there, he has the house there, or rather, they had the house there, and they want to reconstruct it there. The Pope on this was very clear: no transfers of peoples, there will be no riviere in Gaza ».
And finally, on the words of Pope Leo XIV that on Sunday at the Angelus he said he avoid “collective punishment” against civilians, Pizzaballa commented: “They were very clear words, very strong and very expected.”
