The Church cannot turn a blind eye to the violence in Gaza said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem during a visit in Cyprus on Tuesday.
The Cardinal was in the country for the official announcement of the appointment of an Auxiliary Bishop of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Cyprus and responded to questions from in-cyprus.
He expressed the position of the Catholic Church on the ongoing war in Gaza, noting that “The Church is in dismay about the terrible situation that started on October 7th, and day after day becomes worse and worse, with what happened first of all in south Israel and what is happening now in Gaza and north of Israel on the border with Lebanon”.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa further expressed the Church’s concerns regarding the possibility of the conflict escalating further, expanding beyond the Gaza Strip. The Cardinal further noted the human cost of the conflict, “With all that is happening in Gaza, with dozens of thousands of people killed,” while he described the humanitarian situation as “catastrophic.”
“We as a Church cannot remain silent, we are calling for a ceasefire, for a stop to this violence, and to solve the problems in a different way. Because this conflict will generate more hatred, we are now in a sea of hatred, which will create more conflict and more reactions, in Gaza but also the West Bank”, he concluded.
