(LifeSiteNews) — The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem has told the Associated Press that he hopes relations between peoples in the Middle East will start to improve as the potential for an end to the conflict in Gaza may be in sight.
“People keep dying every day out there. But at least in the air you feel something different, you hope that maybe this is going to finish,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa said Monday. “What we have to do is to start from this very sad reality and rebuild.”
Pizzaballa has grown in status ever since the October 7, 2023, attacks against Israeli civilians by terror group Hamas. Appointed to the high-stress role in 2020 by Pope Francis, he has made a number of public statements decrying the Israeli military’s attacks on Palestinians while also offering himself in exchange for hostages and touring Gaza to minister to the Christians who live there.
Pizzaballa’s remarks come as Vatican officials continue to urge leaders in the region to broker a ceasefire. Not only has Pope Leo issued multiple statements in recent weeks calling for peace, he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone in July after the Israeli military struck Holy Family Church in Gaza.
During an interview with Vatican News on Monday, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin accused Israel of violating just war principles.
“I am struck and deeply afflicted by the daily death toll in Palestine — dozens, sometimes hundreds, every day — so many children whose only fault seems to be having been born there,” he said. “We risk becoming desensitized to this carnage!”
READ: Cardinal Parolin says he is ‘deeply afflicted’ by the suffering in Gaza
Last month the death toll in Gaza passed 65,000, many of whom are civilians, including women and children. The United Nations recently designated some of Israel’s actions as constituting genocide.
Originally from Bergamo, Italy, Pizzaballa was rumored to be a potential candidate for the papacy at this year’s conclave, though many commentators agreed that the 59-year-old was perceived as too young. Regarding the conflict in Gaza, His Eminence told the AP that “wounds are there, very painful,” but that conversations must be had going forward.
“While Europeans primarily view Israel as a state, for Jews it is much more than that. We need to engage in more respectful dialogue about this,” he said. “As Catholics, we need also to understand that for the Jewish people, the state of Israel is not just one state among the others. It’s an important reference point.”
Pizzaballa’s remarks suggest a softening in his tone from previous comments. During a Palm Sunday procession earlier this year, His Eminence recorded a video where he appeared to insist that the Holy Land belongs to Christians.
“We are celebrating Jerusalem, the Christian Jerusalem. And we have to be proud of this … no one can separate us from the love of Jesus, from love for Jerusalem, and for our Christian way of life here in the Holy Land,” His Eminence said.
Pizzaballa also previously issued statements saying that only a two-state solution could guarantee stability in the region. “We call upon the international community to redouble its efforts to mediate a lasting and just peace in the Holy Land, based on equal rights for all and on international legitimacy,” reads a joint letter from the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem published in October 2023.
That outlook was reiterated by Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, who serves as the Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, during remarks he gave in August at the UN.
“The Holy See remains convinced that the Two-State Solution, based on secure and internationally recognized borders, is the only viable and equitable path toward a just and lasting peace,” His Excellency declared.
Last week, the head of the Israeli Defense Forces issued a threat to the residents of Gaza City demanding that they flee to the south or be classified as enemy combatants. “Those who remain in Gaza will be considered terrorists and terror supporters,” he warned.
READ: Israel: Christian nuns and clergy will be considered terrorists if they don’t leave Gaza
In an August 26 statement co-authored by Pizzaballa it was explained that for those who are weakened and malnourished due to Israel’s man-made famine, leaving Gaza City “and trying to flee to the south would be nothing less than a death sentence.”
Pizzaballa has served in the Holy Land for over 20 years and was made cardinal in September 2023. A Franciscan, he served as Custos of the Holy Land from 2004 through April 2016. In June 2016 he was made apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem before becoming Patriarch in 2020.
While speaking to German Catholic news agency KNA, His Eminence repeated the comments he made to the AP.
“This is a matter for local and international politics … Vatican diplomacy is also working for us as far as it can in this difficult situation. What we can do: Speak out in a respectful manner, but with clear language.”
He continued: “The Palestinians need not only humanitarian, but also human, psychological support: They want to be recognized in their dignity as a people, and this should be done. What will happen here politically in the future is a mystery to me. The two-state solution remains the ideal solution for me, but it seems less and less real.”
Last week President Trump submitted a 20-point plan for peace in the region. He called on Hamas to accept the deal, which would set up a transitional government in Gaza, or risk “a sad end.”
