{"id":3909,"date":"2025-07-22T16:38:30","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T16:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/?p=3909"},"modified":"2025-07-25T19:09:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T19:09:12","slug":"cardinal-pizzaballa-the-church-will-never-abandon-afflicted-people-of-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/cardinal-pizzaballa-the-church-will-never-abandon-afflicted-people-of-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinal Pizzaballa: The Church will never abandon afflicted people of Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa during a prayer for Peace in Jerusalem following of the grave situation in Gaza and in particular, following the massacre that took place at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza. Photo: GP\/ Catholic Press Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At a press conference following their pastoral visit to Gaza, the Greek Orthodox and Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem issue a joint appeal to world leaders and decision makers, calling for \u201can end to the war, the release of detainees, and the beginning of a true healing process that restores life and dignity to Gaza and the entire Holy Land\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

By Christopher Wells<\/em><\/strong> *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChrist is not absent from Gaza,\u201d Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa said on Tuesday. \u201cHe is there\u2014crucified in the wounded, buried under rubble, and yet present in every act of mercy, every candle in the darkness, every hand extended to the suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem was speaking at a press conference with Eastern Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, following the prelates\u2019 recent pastoral visit to Gaza. In his opening remarks, Cardinal Pizzaballa insisted that the two patriarchs had travelled to the war-torn Palestinian territory not as politicians or diplomats, but as pastors. He insisted that the Church will never abandon the people of Gaza, emphasizing that their mission was not to a specific group, but to all: \u201cChristians, Muslims, believers, doubters, refugees, children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Servants of the suffering Body of Christ\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His sentiments were echoed by Patriarch Theophilos, who said they had gone to Gaza \u201cas servants of the suffering Body of Christ, walking among the wounded, the bereaved, the displaced, and the faithful, whose dignity remains unbroken despite their agony.\u201d In Gaza, he said, \u201cwe encountered a people crushed by the weight of war, yet carrying within them the image of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Orthodox Patriarch explained that \u201cthe Church\u2019s mission in times of devastation is rooted in the ministry of presence, of standing with those who mourn, of defending the sacredness of life, and of witnessing to the light that no darkness can extinguish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humanitarian aid: a matter of life and death<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardinal Pizzaballa, for his part, also emphasized the Church\u2019s support for \u201call humanitarian actors\u2026 who are risking everything to bring life to this sea of human devastation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHumanitarian need is not only necessary\u2014it is a matter of life and death,\u201d he said. \u201cRefusing it is not a delay, but a sentence. Every hour without food, water, medicine, and shelter causes deep harm,\u201d he continued, adding, \u201cIt is morally unacceptable and unjustifiable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joint appeal to end the war<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the press conference, the two Patriarchs issued a joint appeal to world leaders and decision makers, calling for \u201can end to the war, the release of detainees, and the beginning of a true healing process that restores life and dignity to Gaza and the entire Holy Land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also recalled Pope Leo\u2019s appeal, during last Sunday\u2019s Angelus, for the international community \u201cto observe humanitarian law and to respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force and the forced displacement of the population.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is time to end this nonsense, end the war and put the common good of people as the top priority,\u201d Cardinal Pizzaballa said, adding that together both he and Patriarch Theophilos were praying and calling for \u201cthe release of all those deprived of freedom, for the return of the missing, the hostages and for the healing of long-suffering families on all sides.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patriarch Theophilos made the appeal directly: \u201cTo the international community, we say: silence in the face of suffering is a betrayal of conscience. To the children of Gaza, we affirm: the Church remains beside you. And to all those who wield power, we echo the Lord\u2019s command: \u201cBlessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suorce: Vatican News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a press conference following their pastoral visit to Gaza, the Greek Orthodox and Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem issue a joint appeal to world leaders and decision makers, calling for \u201can end to the war, the release of detainees, and the beginning of a true healing process that restores life and dignity to Gaza and the entire Holy Land\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[250,6,8,4,266,14],"tags":[304,303,305],"class_list":["post-3909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church","category-featured","category-featured-news","category-news","category-pope","category-world","tag-cardinal-pierbattista-pizzaballa","tag-gaza","tag-palestine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3911,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3909\/revisions\/3911"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}