Cardinal Pizzaballa in Gaza: “Christ is not absent; he is there, crucified in the wounded, buried beneath the rubble.”

Vatican City, July 23, 2025 – “Christ is not absent from Gaza. He is there, crucified in the wounded, buried beneath the rubble.” Stronger words than these, spoken yesterday by Italian Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa after his pastoral visit to Gaza, are difficult to imagine.

Like His Beatitude Theophilus III of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, who added at the joint press conference: “To the international community, we say: silence in the face of suffering is a betrayal of conscience.”

Since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, in which Palestinian extremists murdered some 1,200 people and kidnapped another 350, of whom some 50 hostages are still being held, Israel has responded with all its means, while failing to respect the proportionality required by international law.

Official figures so far speak of nearly 60,000 Palestinian deaths, including 17,400 children, following the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, hospitals, and schools during the repression. The number of human rights violations reported by the United Nations and independent bodies, and massacres reported daily by the media, have led to a humanitarian situation on the brink of total collapse.

The two Patriarchs issued a joint appeal to world leaders and policymakers, calling for an end to the war, the release of detainees, and the beginning of a true healing process that will restore life and dignity to Gaza and throughout the Holy Land.

They also recalled the words of Pope Leo XIV during the Angelus prayer, in which he urged the international community to “Respect humanitarian law and the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations.”

“We did not go as political envoys, but as shepherds. The Church will not abandon its people,” the Italian cardinal stated.

He described the scene he saw as devastating, yet filled with wonderful humanity, offering descriptive examples of “mothers preparing food for others” amid the “tents that have become homes for those who have lost everything.”

His Beatitude emphasized that the Church’s mission in Gaza is universal and inclusive: “Our hospitals, shelters, schools, parishes—St. Porphyrius, the Holy Family, Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, Caritas—are places of encounter and sharing for all: Christians, Muslims, believers, skeptics, refugees, children. Humanitarian aid is not only necessary, but a matter of life and death. Refusing it is not a delay, but a condemnation. Every hour without food, water, medicine, and shelter causes profound harm.”

He concluded by reaffirming that true and lasting peace requires a path of reconciliation that is “genuine, painful, and courageous. Not forgetting, but forgiving. Not erasing wounds, but transforming them into wisdom. Only this path can make peace possible, not only politically, but also humanly.”

Following the opening remarks, His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal’s moving statement was read aloud, in which he expressed his profound sorrow over the bombing of the Holy Family Church, which caused casualties and injuries. He affirmed that churches and mosques, as houses of God, must be respected and preserved from the horrors of war.

Textual speech of his beatitude

https://lpj.org/es/news/adress-by-his-beatitude-theophilos-iii

https://lpj.org/es/news/cardinal-pizzaballas-speech