The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem describes the climate of “enthusiasm” among the faithful, despite the attacks and violence in recent weeks. The tensions instill the desire to participate in the celebrations. Christians in Gaza only received 200 permits to visit places of worship. The community has grown “in the feeling of belonging and unity.” Last night, the Israeli police raided the mosque in al-Aqsa and arrested 350 Palestinians.
Jerusalem () – The Holy Land is “a great condominium” where people live together “despite the problems: there are great extremisms, but we must continue to work together” as is the case in schools and hospitals. As much as we keep “putting up barriers” in the end “we are forced to cross paths, to meet in all walks of life. And condo encounters are never boring.” With this metaphor, the Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, describes the climate of these days before Easter, in a region that in recent weeks has experienced an escalation of violence. The last episode happened last night in the al aqsa mosquescene of a raid by the Israeli police that culminated in 350 Palestinians being detained.
“The situation is problematic,” the cleric declared to , “but it is nothing new, we are used to problems” that do not affect the celebrations that the community awaits “with enthusiasm”. “This year,” he continued, “we began with the Palm Sunday procession, very well attended and with the presence of all the parishes.” It may seem paradoxical, but “perhaps precisely because there are so many political and religious tensions, we want to once again express our desire to celebrate with greater determination.” The desire to attend the celebrations, he explains, is a “spontaneous reaction” because “I repeat it over and over again: we are not afraid, we are not giving up, we are part of this land and we will not allow a few extremists to dictate our agenda.”
The patriarch of Italian origin has lived in the Holy Land since 1999. He first served as Custos (2004-2016) and then as apostolic administrator (2016-2020). In his statements, he refers to the tensions in Israel, to the rise of the government most right-wing in history and the attacks They also affect Christians. Faced with a population of nine million inhabitants, in Israel Christians of various confessions add up to 180,000 – less than 2% – and Catholics represent a small part. But, as the leaders of the Churches often repeat, everything was born here, Christian history began here, and for this reason it is decisive to be here and to remain.
On the occasion of the Palm Sunday celebrations, Patriarch Pizzaballa once again responded to those who accuse Christians of being foreigners tied to the West, or rather guests of the Holy Land. “We are part of the identity of this city, of Jerusalem and of this land”, explains the prelate. The escalation of attacks “is nothing new”, only that now they have acquired “greater force, because there are extremist parties in the government that claim them very clearly.” Gaza is increasingly an open-air prison, and exit permits granted to Christians have also been drastically reduced, “at Christmas there were almost 700”; for this Easter “less than 200” were granted.
“I am against the idea that you have to have permits to go to places of worship,” he says, and for a long time “restrictions and problems” have been part of a “political context” that has hardened even more with the “new government of the religious extreme right”. It’s all part of the same context.” It remains a “torn and violent world” and “as I said in my Christmas homily, violence seems to be our only language, our only form of expression, and this is not true.” There is violence on a political and religious level, but if you visit the territories you will also see many people who live differently: we must also be able to see the good that grows, not just the evil that destroys”.
Christian schools are an example of this, although there have also been “episodes of violence”. In the establishments there is an “opposite reaction, marked by solidarity, closeness”, in which both Jews and Muslims denounce” what is happening. The children of different denominations “live together”, the families “meet and talk among themselves”, they talk about the most important issues and about their children “although there are no shortage of problems”. But what is emerging, he says, is a movement “rejecting violence and stereotypes,” of widespread immobility and indifference even globally, in which “the Palestinian question has been totally degraded.”
Finally, Patriarch Pizzaballa reflects on the Christian community of the Holy Land, which he has seen grow “in the sense of belonging, of unity.” “We always run the risk of each living on their own island: Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Jerusalem, the Galilee, Cyprus; religious, secular, Arab, non-Arab.” On the contrary, the feeling of belonging “to the only Church of Jerusalem”, he concludes, “has grown a lot, becoming a concrete participation. The synodal process has helped, fostering participation, collaboration, friendship, initiatives and relations”.
