Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, assured that for now a two-state solution to end the war between Israel and Hamas in the Holy Land is “not realistic.”
“My impression is that no one wants a bigger conflict, but no one can stop it (…) Everything is possible in a positive and negative way. For now we need something new, creative, I don’t know exactly what, but all the previous agreements and ideas, such as the perspective of the two-state solution, all of that is not realistic now,” the cardinal explained.
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In an interview with Colm Flynn for EWTN News Nightlythe cardinal explained that what is happening between Israel and Hamas, the war that has involved Palestine since last October 7, “is the worst period we are experiencing” in the last 35 years.
“Not only because of the violence (…) but because of the proportion, the impact, also the emotional impact on the population, Israelis and Palestinians, and now in Lebanon, which is enormous,” he added.
Following the Hamas incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel responded with a strong military operation in Gaza, which has involved Iran and more recently Lebanon.
On many occasions Pope Francis has called for a ceasefire and an end to the war in the Holy Land, especially after praying the Angelus on Sundays. On October 17, he received a former minister from Israel and three former ministers from Palestine at the Vatican, with whom he spoke for about fifteen minutes.
In the dialogue with Flynn, Cardinal Pizzaballa expressed his concern “about the hateful language that can be breathed and found everywhere. This is terrible. “I am worried not so much about the war, which will end like other wars, but about what will happen afterward, the consequences will be terrible.”
The Church is the voice of the poor
Regarding the negotiations that must take place to achieve peace, the cardinal commented: “I do not believe that the Church should enter into this. It is better that the Church remains outside because if you enter, you are not free. The strength of the Church is to be a voice, the voice of the poor.”
After indicating that “everyone has to do their job, and that politicians must find a political perspective and religious leaders must find hope,” the Patriarch of Jerusalem specified that “peace is an attitude. It’s not just an agreement. “It doesn’t come from outside.”
However, Cardinal Pizzaballa continued, given the current situation “it is not realistic to talk about peace. The first thing we must talk about is the ceasefire to stop all types of violence…find new leaders with vision, political vision, also religious leaders.”
“And then you can think about a new perspective for the Middle East, not before.”
When speaking about hunger as a weapon of war, the cardinal regretted what is happening in Gaza and highlighted that the aid sent by international organizations is not enough to care for 2 million people.
When asked what Christians can do outside the Holy Land, Cardinal Pizzaballa responded: “Prayer and support, the support of the Christian community as much as possible.”
Message to Israelis and Palestinians
After warning that violence is not a solution, the Patriarch of Jerusalem recalled that “Palestinians and Israelis are called by God to live alongside each other, not against each other. And they have to rediscover that calling.” Furthermore, he specified, “the answer to all violence and evil is the cross.”
To conclude, the cardinal stressed that “it is not impossible” to see God in the midst of all this because “the Gospel is not an idea or a narrative, it is life” and highlighted the need to “trust in the power of grace.”
Walter Sánchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.