The cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has described the West Bank as a «lawless land» and warned that violence between Israeli settlers and the Palestinian population continues to rise «with no restraint from the standpoint of security or legality.»
The cardinal made these remarks during the final day of the Meeting in Rimini, Emilia-Romagna (Italy), where he called for greater diplomatic efforts from the West to curb the spiral of violence in the Middle East and reiterated his support for the two-state solution as a way to recognize both Israelis and Palestinians the right to «a home in their land.»
«A situation of continuous aggression by the settlers»
Pizzaballa was particularly harsh when referring to the situation in the West Bank.
«That there is a situation of continuous aggression by the settlers is a proven fact,» he stated.
The patriarch maintained that tensions with the Palestinian population continue to grow and denounced that episodes of violence occur without an adequate response from the institutions responsible for ensuring security and law enforcement.
This is not the first time the cardinal has made this denunciation. Last July, he had already stated that in the West Bank «there is no rule of law» and had accused Israeli settlers of setting up checkpoints, destroying crops, preventing Palestinians from accessing their lands, and carrying out attacks that too often go unpunished.
The situation also directly affects Christian communities. On August 15, Pizzaballa visited Taybeh, a Palestinian town in the West Bank and the last village with a predominantly Christian population in the area, where he reiterated his commitment to defending the presence of Christians in the Holy Land.
Pizzaballa calls for more Western diplomacy
The patriarch urged Western countries to help open a different political perspective.
«The West must help to lift our gaze a little, to create perspectives, and also to calm this continuous drift through ever greater diplomatic efforts,» he said.
Pizzaballa acknowledged the limitations of diplomacy but maintained that it remains «the only way» to try to resolve the conflict without resorting to weapons, violence, or military force.
Regarding Gaza, he assured that the situation has «deteriorated greatly» and that the Strip remains «humanly very devastated,» although he considered that there is greater stability from a political standpoint and that conversations about its future have increased.
The two-state solution
The cardinal once again defended the creation of two states, Israel and Palestine, a position also held by Leo XIV.
For Pizzaballa, this is the «only way to recognize Israelis and Palestinians the right to have a home in their land.»
At the same time, the patriarch insisted that peace cannot be reduced to a slogan or built on naive approaches.
«Politics is also made up of balances, interests, and power relations,» he recalled, but warned that the problem begins when everything is reduced to «partisan interests and balances of power.»
In his view, the sense of the common good has been lost in the Middle East, and too many institutions act solely based on the interests of their own political bloc.
«Sooner or later the Pope will come to the Holy Land»
Pizzaballa also referred to a possible visit by Leo XIV to the Holy Land.
«Sooner or later the Pope will come to the Holy Land; it is a matter of time,» he stated.
The patriarch, however, urged not to rush the trip and to prepare the conditions beforehand so that it can bear real fruit.
«We will work on this together with the Holy Father, but I believe we should not be in a hurry and that we should also avoid flashy gestures that remain just that,» he explained.
In his opinion, a papal visit should be integrated «within a meaningful journey» and not limited to an isolated symbolic gesture.
«War robs young people of their most beautiful years»
During the meeting Scrutando el cielo de Jerusalén, Pizzaballa spoke with several young people based on his pastoral letter «They returned to Jerusalem with great joy», published on April 25 and addressed to the diocese of the Latin Patriarchate, which includes Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Cyprus.
The cardinal particularly warned against the capacity of war to dehumanize the adversary.
«War robs young people of the most beautiful years of their lives, if it does not take their very lives,» he noted.
Pizzaballa explained that the logic of war ends up turning the other into someone who must be stripped of their humanity, because «if the other is human and close to you, it becomes difficult to strike them.»
For this reason, he called for preventing «the dynamics of war from taking hold of the conscience.»
«Hope is born from within»
The patriarch also distinguished between hope and optimism.
«We must not confuse hope with ‘everything will be fine’ or with a political solution,» he stated.
For Pizzaballa, Christian hope is born «from within,» from faith and from people who, even in the midst of conflict, choose to meet and reject the dehumanization of the adversary.
The cardinal specifically cited Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, and Christians who continue to collaborate, help, and support others.
In this regard, he called for interreligious dialogue to no longer be restricted to elites but to also reach local communities.
«After the war in Gaza, we cannot go back to the way things were before,» he stated. The accumulated wounds and misunderstandings, he explained, require rebuilding dialogue from the ground up and through concrete encounters between people.
Pizzaballa finally warned against the tendency of each community to consider itself «the only victim» and automatically turn the other into an enemy.
«The first violence is born from the heart and from words,» he concluded.