Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, called for peace and for Christians to help the people of Gaza as the war continues its 19th month.
What the world needs, said the cardinal in an interview with the SIR news agency, is more than just "a political piece or merely the absence of war."
Instead, he said, the world needs the peace "that comes from Christ." Peace, he said, is the result of "the paradigm of Christian life."
When a person loves both God and their neighbor, "peace comes naturally."
"This peace is the kind we all need, everywhere in the world, but especially in the Holy Land," he said. The Holy Land has been at war since the October 7 attack by Hamas, a terrorist organization based in Gaza.
The concept of "brotherly love" and love for one's neighbor may be hard to accept for people living in areas of conflict, said Cardinal Pizzaballa.
This love “seems abstract, far removed from reality," he said. But love for one another, said Pizzaballa, is essential for unity in Christ.
We can't give up
During Pope Leo XIV's May 11 Regina Caeli address, where the Pontiff pleaded for an end to wars around the world, he singled out the situation in Gaza as one he was particularly concerned about.
“May the fighting cease immediately, may humanitarian aid be provided to the exhausted civilian population, and may all hostages be released,” he said.
The Pope mentioned the situation again the next week, in his May 18 Regina Caeli address after his inauguration, warning:
In Gaza, the surviving children, families, and elderly are reduced to starvation.
Pope Leo XIV's predecessor, Pope Francis, used to frequently telephone the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza.
For Cardinal Pizzaballa, "we cannot afford the luxury of giving up or standing still" when it comes to this conflict.
Christians, he said, "must do everything possible to bring help" to the people in Gaza. The Gaza Strip has three Christian churches with one Catholic parish, and about 1,000 to 1,500 total Christians.
