(LifeSiteNews) — In a joint statement issued on October 14, the patriarchs and heads of Christian churches in Jerusalem rejoiced over the ceasefire deal that has been reached in Gaza while also calling for immediate medical and humanitarian aid to reach the suffering people who have been displaced.
“Our region as a whole has suffered long enough” to recognize that “[n]ow is clearly the time to embark upon the very long pathway of healing and reconciliation that is so profoundly needed between Palestinians and Israelis,” it reads.
The declaration, signed by Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, also praised the “enormous efforts” undertaken to reach the accord while urging leaders to adopt a two-state solution for long-term peace.
“We hope and trust that this first stage of the ceasefire truly signals the end of the Gaza War, and that any further disagreements between the parties will be resolved through negotiation and mediation,” it reads.
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“We urge the establishment of a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with the present State of Israel. Only in this way, we believe, will a just and lasting peace be truly established in the Holy Land and throughout the larger Middle East,” the statement continues.
Christian leaders in the Holy Land have repeatedly called for restraint following the October 7 attacks in 2023 against Israeli citizens by Hamas. The attacks, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly was aware of beforehand, were used to justify his efforts against Palestinians in Gaza.
U.N. members as well as religious communities, including the Vatican under Pope Francis, condemned Netanyahu’s response as being disproportionate to the initial attack. Many international voices have also characterized the campaign as a genocide. Current estimates place the overall death toll in Gaza around 70,000, including many women and children.
In their statement, the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant leaders who comprise the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem said they were “encouraged by the commitment demonstrated by the participants” who came together for the deal but that they “continue to view with great concern the increasing violence against local communities in the West Bank in connection with settlement expansion there.”
Previously, President Donald Trump said he would not allow further settlements into the West Bank, though Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson has long wanted him to permit Jews to take over the region. Trump’s peace plan also denies Israel the ability to annex Gaza, instead placing it under a temporary government with the aim of development the region “for the benefit of the people of Gaza.”
At the same time, Grayzone reporter Aaron Maté, who is Jewish but is strongly critical of Israel, lamented on Piers Morgan’s program that Trump’s plan only speaks of the “aspiration” of the Palestinian people to statehood. It’s not a peace deal, he argued, if it “perpetuates the main obstacle to peace: denial of Palestinian freedom and self-determination.” If “you don’t recognize that, you’re not going to solve the problem, and Trump’s so-called ‘peace plan’ does nothing to address that.”
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The group concludes its statement expressing a “special word of encouragement” to “those living inside St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church and Holy Family Catholic Church, as well as those serving at Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital.”
Holy Family Church was hit by a shell fired by the Israeli military earlier this year, killing several parishioners. The small community, led by Father Gabriel Romanelli, has repeatedly been encouraged by Pope Francis as well as Pope Leo XIV as he serves the needs of his parishioners.
“The Pope gave us his blessing and prayed for us and for peace. He follows everything closely and is committed to ending the war,” Romanelli has said.
Vatican News has reported said that there are an estimated 450 displaced people, including the elderly, the sick, and children, sheltering at the Holy Family Church. “Most of the population does not want to leave,” Romanelli said in September. “Everywhere there is danger, but many want to remain in the city. We try to accompany them and help as we can.”
On Wednesday, October 15, Pizzaballa issued a standalone statement saying that he is in touch with Catholics in Gaza and that “the situation remains dramatic because everything is destroyed” but that “there is a new atmosphere – still fragile, but we hope it will become more stable.”
