Cardinal Pizzaballa, Patriarch from Jerusalem to Jubileo of Young people: be peace agents before war and hate

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, sent a message to the more than 40,000 young people, mostly Italians, who met yesterday in Rome for the rite of the profession of faith, encouraging them that, despite war and hate in the Holy Land and anywhere else, they are all agents of peace and hope.

The Purpurado Italian message, also pronounced in that language, was broadcast in the Plaza de San Pedro in the Vatican, in an event chaired by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, in an event in which there were testimonies, music, and prayer.

In his message, Pizzaballa said that in the Holy Land, for the war between Israel and Hamas, in which also the only Catholic Church of Gaza has been bombard unimaginable so far. ”

In that sense, the cardinal continued, “everything seems to talk about death, hate, destruction, violence, it really seems like a night that never ends. Unfortunately, night, darkness, it seems to really be the reference criteria for many, but it is also important comfort ”.

After highlighting that “there are many people who even today, in Gaza, in Israel, in all Holy Land, are willing to give life for others,” the patriarch stressed that “only people who have been dramatic to look at the pain of the other at this dramatic moment, will approach him, will also be able to build the future and to give concretion to hope.”

“And there are many, and we, as a church, must be there, we must be able, like the first apostles, like Peter, in the midst of so many difficulties and misunderstandings, in the dialogue, in the discussion, even in the reprimand if necessary, of being able to carry a word, a language that builds, that opens horizons, that is able to create times of trust, first of all with our gestures,” said the Italian purple.

After remembering that the first words of the risen Christ were “Peace be with you”, the patriarch encouraged everyone to be “peace agents, capable of saying, together with the resurrected, ‘Peace is with you’, a peace that is not only a desire, but a life lived and experienced.”

“Here it is still possible, I am sure that it is also possible in Italy or anywhere else, just want it, just believe it and commit as many men and women of all times and everywhere, also interested,” he said.

After inviting everyone to the Holy Land when the war ends, the patriarch made votes so that “the pilgrimage can resume, that we can meet again and embrace here in Jerusalem, together. Congratulations and good pilgrimage following Pedro’s steps, next to Pedro.”

“Humanity must end war or war will end humanity”

In turn, Cardinal Zuppi delivered a homily after the broadcast of the Pizzaballa message, and after reading the Matthew Gospel in which Jesus gives the keys to the kingdom to St. Peter.

“The church is under the cross with eyes full of tears and the heart injured, therefore suffering, unbearable for a mother, as it should always be for all humanity,” said the cardinal, according to Vatican News.

“Let’s disarm our hearts to disarm the hearts and the hands of a violent world, to cure scars, to prevent new conflicts!” He encouraged, remembering what Pope Leo XIV said at the beginning of his pontificate.

The purple also encouraged fraternal love “because love repairs, repairs everything, always, much more than we believe.”