Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa has given an update on the status of Christians in Gaza after the first phase of the historic peace deal between Israel and Hamas began this week. Source: CNA.
“We are in daily contact with them,” the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem said of the Catholic community in Gaza in a Vatican News interview. “They keep writing that they still cannot believe they were able to sleep through the night without hearing the sound of bombs.”
Despite the promising outcome of the first phase of the peace deal, which saw the return of Israeli hostages and the strategic withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza, Cardinal Pizzaballa emphasised that the situation in Gaza “remains very fluid”.
Amid de-escalation between Israel and Hamas forces, clashes among warring factions have broken out across Gaza. Furthermore, he said, “we still do not know if [the war] has truly ended,” and the way forward is not yet clear.
“The situation remains dramatic because everything is destroyed,” he explained. “People are returning, but they are returning to the ruins. Hospitals are not functioning; schools do not exist. There is still the matter of the bodies of the deceased Israeli hostages that must be recovered.
“However, despite all this, there is a new atmosphere – still fragile, but we hope it will become more stable.”
Throughout the conflict, Cardinal Pizzaballa said, Catholics in the region have “felt the closeness” of both Pope Leo XIV and Pope Francis.
“They have different personalities, but both expressed their closeness in very concrete ways,” he said, noting both pontiffs had made a habit of frequent phone calls and contact with Fr Gabriel Romanelli of Holy Family Parish in Gaza, in addition to concrete aid. Pope Leo sent antibiotics to Gaza this week.
The cardinal said, “we must not confuse hope with a solution to the conflict”, while discussing how the region must move forward.
“The end of the war is not the beginning of peace, nor is it the end of the conflict,” he said.
Rather, fraternity must be built throughout the region, with new political and religious leadership “who can help rebuild a different narrative, one based on mutual respect.”
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Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem speaks out after first phase of peace deal completed (By Madalaine Elhabbal, CNA)
