Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa reflected on the 2025 conclave

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and one of the most prominent purple of the last conclave, granted a press conference This Tuesday, May 13 from Jerusalem, in which he shared with the media his experience during the papal election.

Although he stressed that everything that happened within the Sistine Chapel should be kept in strict confidentiality, Cardinal Pizzaballa stressed that the brief conclave was “very interesting in a certain sense, for the context and the rites. Everything takes place in a very slow and solemn way.”

“Also being in the Sistine, under the frescoes of Miguel Ángel, created a very clear, very unique, very solemn and also very religious atmosphere. Everything inside was religious. It was a rite, a kind of liturgy. And it was very interesting,” he added.

The first day of the conclave, after the procession and during the prayer of the litanies of the saints, Cardinal Pizzaballa became viral in social networks when several users noticed that the purple seemed to admire the frescoes of the roof of the iconic Vatican chapel.

The Cardinal, who was inside the “Papable” according to many projections, confirmed that he enjoyed the works of art of the chapel: “Like a normal tourist, you could not enjoy so much. So being there, having all the time at your disposal, was something unique. And also my place, where I was sitting, I was just below the creation of Adam,” he said.

“I spent time waiting for the vote to end, looking and enjoying the frescoes,” he added.

The patriarch stressed that “there was a very broad and evident agreement among the cardinals on the decisions to be made,” while indicating the importance of general congregations for this, since for the beginning of the meetings many cardinals were not known.

“So it was quite interesting to listen to almost 200 people, including non -voters, with a wide variety of opinions on two main themes. The ideas revolved mainly around two things: the relationship with the world and the life of the Church,” he said.

Pizzaballa remarked that the environment of the conclave was “very good, very positive”, although “the media like to talk about disagreements and others.” The different opinions, he continued, “are normal” and are not “something strange.”

The discussions about the profile of the new Pope

“Nature doesn’t make the forest, Church does not make the forest ” The purple said when consulted on the discussions prior to the conclave, in which there was talk about the profile that the new Holy Father had to have.

“It is Latin. It means that the Church does not jump. So continuity is important. Continuity and diversity, of course. Everyone has its own style, its own personality. And we already saw it in the first days: the different style of each Pope. That is inevitable. It is also a beautiful aspect. We do not want uniformity. And then we will see. It is too early to talk about that,” Pizzaballa explained.

In addition, he said that during the congregations reflected on relations with other religions, something that considers “constitutive part of the life of the Church.”

The Pope and the situation in Gaza

The patriarch also talked about an eventual visit of the Pope to Gaza, noting that it is always something that is in the plans, but that he must prepare very well to be “in a context that helps our community”.

“These visits should help and not create more problems, so we must also create the right context,” he repeated. “The Pope will be very present, it cannot be otherwise, in the international arena as a religious leader, first of all,” he added.

Finally, Cardinal Pizzaballa indicated that it always remains in contact with the suffered Christian population of Gaza and said that, although the Church cannot solve the enormous problems of the region, if it can “express solidarity and closeness.”

“This is what we can do at this time. And the Church, to support from a humanitarian point of view, is also essential. And it is also important to find the right consolation words. We do not have many things. What we have are words and hearts. And we have to use both,” he concluded.