The young people of today have the chance to bring continued peace to the world, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa said in a video message played for pilgrims at the Jubilee of Youth on July 31.
In the video, which was delivered in Italian, Cardinal Pizzaballa explained that he had been asked to "say a few words from the Holy Land," noting that "the first of the Apostles, St. Peter, set out from here to come to Rome, to communicate the message and experience of Christ to the whole world and to preserve the faith in the Church."
The cardinal is the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, which contains the Latin Rite parishes located in Cyprus, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel.
The Holy Land, lamented Cardinal Pizzaballa, is currently experiencing "a very complex and difficult time" as a result of the ongoing war.
This suffering, he said, is "not a theory," but is rather a "concrete reality that directly affects thousands and thousands of people in an unimaginable way."
Faith, said the cardinal, has served as a way to "help us to rediscover, to see within this endless night, the points of light."
"There are so many people who, even today, in Gaza, in Israel, throughout the Holy Land, are ready to give their lives for others, to put themselves on the line, risking their lives," he said.
Pizzaballa continued, "in Gaza, it is dangerous to go out on the streets and in Israel doing something in support of Gaza is not always understood and, therefore, one encounters many misunderstandings."
Despite this, "There are many people who, in this incredible sea of mistrust and hatred, are still capable of putting themselves on the line to do something for others, because they believe in others, and do not give in to this situation of 'me and no one else,' but focus on 'us together.'"
"This is the future of the Holy Land, whether we like it or not: We will all remain here, we will all have to find a way to start over and move forward," said the cardinal.
Concrete meaning of hope
Cardinal Pizzaballa expressed gratitude to the people who have made "God's presence and consolation concrete and visible through their witness," naming priests, the sacraments, and the many volunteers from various associations of all faiths.
"It is very beautiful to see how we can give concrete meaning to the word 'hope,' which is so important in this Jubilee and seems so far from our experience," he said, especially as Gaza and other areas begin to rebuild when the war eventually ends.
"Only those who, in this dramatic moment, are capable of not stopping at their own pain — which is there, which remains — but of looking at the pain of others, of coming to meet them, will also be capable of building the future and giving substance to hope."
The first words of Jesus after His resurrection were "Peace be with you," Pizzaballa reminded the pilgrims.
"We see this Risen One today in the many people who still believe that peace is not a mirage or just a slogan, but something concrete that can be built," he said. "Together, each in our own context, we must become peacemakers, capable of saying with the Risen One: peace be with you. A peace that is not just a wish, but is life lived and experienced."
As Catholics, said Pizzaballa, "we must be there, amid many difficulties and misunderstandings, in dialogue, in discussion."
"We must be capable, like the first Apostles, like Peter, of bringing a word, a language that builds, that opens horizons, that creates opportunities for trust. First of all with gestures, because words alone are not enough; they must be accompanied by concrete gestures of closeness, empathy, and love, which are not only human, but are bathed in and marked by the grace of God, which Jesus Christ, the risen Christ, has given us."
