Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem united in a call for peace and justice amid unfolding violence, following a surprise attack by Hamas in southern Israel, which has left around 600 Israelis dead, among them civilians and dozens of soldiers and police who were killed battling the Hamas fighters. Over 2,000 people were injured.
Fears of a ground invasion of Gaza are growing after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to turn the besieged Palestinian enclave into a “deserted island,” while the latest reported death toll of Palestinians is 313. Thousands of people in Palestinian territories are injured in Israeli airstrikes, which began hours following the Hamas attack.
“The Holy Land, a place sacred to countless millions around the world, is currently mired in violence and suffering due to the prolonged political conflict and the lamentable absence of justice and respect for human rights,” The Patriarchs and Head of the Churches in Jerusalem said in an 7 October joint statement.
As custodians of the Christian faith, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches said they “stand in solidarity with the people of this region, who are enduring the devastating consequences of continued strife.”
“We unequivocally condemn any acts that target civilians, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity or faith,” said the Patriarchs, among them Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Cardinal Pizzaballa expressed “condemnation” and great concern in an Oct. 7 interview with the Italian Catholic daily newspaper Avvenire.
“We need to stop the violence and then apply diplomatic pressure to prevent the game of retaliation from becoming a vicious cycle from which it is difficult to escape. So (we must) try to bring back a minimum of reasonableness between the parties. Even if it seems difficult right now,” said Pizzaballa, who became the first resident cardinal in Jerusalem’s history during a 30 September consistory in Rome.
Read thea article b OSV News in The Catholic Weekly.