In a prayer vigil held in Rome under the motto «Peace for Gaza», on the night of September 22, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, acknowledged with a tone of deep pain that the current situation in the Holy Land is “the hardest moment” he has witnessed in his 35 years of service in the region.
A massive vigil for peace in Gaza
According to Vatican media reports, the initiative, organized by the Sant’Egidio Community and supported by a wide network of Catholic associations, brought together hundreds of faithful in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere and thousands more online. United in prayer, all raised supplications for the victims of Gaza, the children wounded in body and soul, the mothers who mourn their loved ones, and for peace among Jews, Muslims, and Christians.
Bassetti: war is not an accident, it is decided and desired
Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, emeritus Archbishop of Perugia and former president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, presided over the vigil and offered a meditation based on the Beatitudes. With clear words, he denounced that war “is never a misfortune that happens by chance; it is always decided and desired”.
Bassetti emphasized that every violation of human rights is the fruit of concrete choices that generate suffering and called for urgently reactivating diplomatic peace processes. “Violence can and must be stopped”, he insisted, recalling that every person possesses an inviolable dignity that must be respected and safeguarded.
Pizzaballa: a vicious circle of hatred that we must break
From Jerusalem, Pizzaballa sent a video message in which he expressed the desolation of the Christians of the Holy Land:
“We are deeply wounded by what we are experiencing, by a climate of hatred that generates more hatred in a vicious circle that cannot be broken”.
The patriarch acknowledged that the passivity of institutions has left “free rein to many extremists on both sides”, although he also highlighted the courage of men and women who, in silence, strive for justice and peace even at a high personal cost.
“We must continue to do justice, speaking the truth with love toward all”, he affirmed. And he added that, when the language of violence collapses, Christians must be prepared to offer, through their witness, the strength of meekness as the basis for reconstruction.
A Church united in prayer for the Holy Land
The vigil also included a march through the center of Rome and the participation of priests and laity who denounced what is happening in Gaza as a true genocide. In addition, in the Church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami, in the Roman Forum, an uninterrupted adoration is taking place these days with the participation of various religious congregations and ecclesial movements.
The unanimous clamor of these initiatives, both in Rome and in other cities, is for the hostilities to cease and for a horizon of true peace to open for the peoples of the Holy Land.
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