Cardinal Pizzaballa in the Holy Land: ‘The Church must be a point of connection for everyone’

ACI MENA, Jun 24, 2025 / 14:17 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, in an exclusive interview with ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, emphasized that the Catholic Church in the Holy Land is “more active than people might think,” noting that many of its initiatives and efforts take place away from the spotlight “so that we can be more effective.”

His remarks came in response to the recent escalation of violence between Iran and Israel.

The cardinal also stressed the importance of openness. “The Church must remain open and accessible to all. This is absolutely essential,” he said. “Everyone must be able to reach us; we must be a point of connection for everyone.”

Commenting on the region’s complex political landscape, the cardinal sent a clear message to political leaders: “The path forward does not lie in military action but in dreaming of the future and building hope for it,” he said. “Force, violence, and war do not build anything. They destroy people, land, relationships, and wipe out hope in the future.”

As regional tensions escalate, the cardinal warned that the suffering in the Holy Land, especially in Gaza and the West Bank, risks being forgotten amid the noise of larger global crises. “We’ve been speaking out. Even yesterday, the pope said this war is making us forget about Gaza’s tragedy and that of the West Bank.”

“We must keep speaking, writing, and maintaining ties with churches around the world to remind them that the situation here is extremely complex and that we cannot forget the weakest and the poorest,” he said.

Addressing the daily challenges in the Holy Land, Pizzaballa highlighted the growing obstacles Christian families face in reaching their churches due to military checkpoints and repeated closures, which make pastoral activities nearly impossible.

“The first obstacle, above all else, is the state of emergency. Transportation has become a serious issue — no one knows when roads will be open or closed,” he said. With a sense of sadness, he added: “We invested so much effort and money to send our youth to Rome for the jubilee, and now everything has been frozen, suspended, and canceled.”

Despite these challenges, the cardinal affirmed the Church’s ongoing humanitarian work in both the West Bank and Gaza. “We’ve created hundreds of job opportunities, and we’re distributing food vouchers and aid. We’re present in a strong way, even in Gaza; we try to get in the essentials, despite how difficult it is,” he said.

When asked how, as patriarch of Jerusalem, he personally continues to cope with the crisis, Pizzaballa replied: “Most of the time lately, I feel helpless. I want to do so much, to write, to visit, to be present, but not everything is possible.”

He continued: “Our primary concern is our community in Gaza: to support them, to be present for them, to not abandon them. This is of utmost importance.”

Pizzaballa said the Christians in Gaza “have become a symbol of our Christian community.”

“So too is the unity of the Church,” he said. “These geographic divisions, the separation, the barriers, they isolate us. So how can we preserve connection and unity? Because without unity, there is no true sense of belonging.”

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.