The Latin-rite Patriarch of Jerusalem has condemned both the Hamas attacks on Israel and the shelling of Gaza, urged prayers for peace, and said that only the creation of a Palestinian homeland will bring peace to the region.
“The whole world views this Holy Land of ours as a place that is a constant cause of wars and divisions,” said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzabella. “It is only by ending decades of occupation and its tragic consequences, as well as giving a clear and secure national perspective to the Palestinian people that a serious peace process can begin.”
While he unequivocally condemned the “atrocity” of the Hamas attacks, the Patriarch also denounced the Israeli response as a “new cycle of violence” which, he said, “has brought to Gaza over five thousand deaths, including many women and children, tens of thousands of wounded, neighborhoods razed to the ground, lack of medicine, lack of water and of basic necessities for over two million people.”
Cardinal Pizzabella welcomed the prayers of Christians all around the world, and encouraged the faithful to join in another day of fasting and prayer for peace on October 27.