The Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton, expressed his hope that the truce announced yesterday between Israel and the terrorist group Hezbollah be extended to the Gaza Strip and thus next Christmas will be one of peace.
The agreement reached on November 26, with the mediation of the United States and France, provides for a 60-day ceasefire, for Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon and for Israeli forces to return to their side of the border.
Receive the main news from ACI Prensa by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channels today:
Likewise, Lebanese soldiers and UN blue helmets should be deployed in the area. A US-led group should monitor compliance with the agreement.
In statements to the SIR agencythe Franciscan priest asked that “all parties commit to respecting it to allow all displaced people to return to their homes.”
The AP agency reported that, as soon as the ceasefire between Israel and the Shiite terrorist organization became known, groups of people began to return to southern Lebanon, despite Israeli and Lebanese warnings to stay away from certain areas.
Father Patton also stated that they hope and pray that the truce “will also extend to Gaza and that it will mean that the war is ending.”
“And we hope that for our Christians next Christmas will be truly one of peace and therefore also of celebration. And may the pilgrims return soon,” he added.
“A ceasefire is not peace”
However, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said that “the Middle East is a tormented region with divisions of all kinds, now they say that there is a ceasefire in Lebanon, but it does not mean that there will be peace, peace is another thing”.
In statements to the press during an event in Rome, the cardinal referred to the situation in Gaza and noted that “peace is made with peaceful relations between peoples.”
In that sense, he indicated that not only the physical structures need to be reconstructed, but also “the relationships destroyed by this war.” “We must not deceive ourselves, times are long but the peoples who fight among themselves today are the same ones who will have to coexist tomorrow,” he added.
Continue working to consolidate peace
Who also spoke was the president of the International Justice and Peace Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon.
In a statement, he expressed his hope that the recent ceasefire will be an opportunity “for peace to take root.”
Therefore, he urged all parties and the international community “to remain vigilant and continue to work for the consolidation of peace in the region through the disarmament of Hezbollah and the full implementation of UN resolutions regarding Lebanon”, which will lead to this country “recovering its full sovereignty and independence.”
“I pray that this ceasefire will be a beacon of true hope and spark greater ambitions for lasting peace in the Middle East on all fronts, especially in the dire situation in Gaza,” he said.
Eduardo Berdejo
Professional in Social Communication from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Peru, I have more than 20 years of experience in Catholic digital journalism. As part of ACI Prensa I have been sent to cover Pope Francis’ trips to Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Peru, in addition to the Synodality Synod in the Vatican in 2023.