Church ‘defends humanity’ amid destruction in the Holy Land

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa acknowledged that the ‘temptation of resignation is great’ but insisted ‘we want to dare to hope, which is the daughter of faith’.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said the Pope’s moral leadership was vital as a series of crises threatened the populations of Gaza and the West Bank which it supports.

Marta Lorenzo, director of the UNRWA Representative Office for Europe, told Vatican News last week: “His Holiness is not seen as a political figure but as a defender of humanity. His advocacy for peace is crucial at this moment.”

She reported “extensive, systematic” destruction of refugee camps and mass displacement as the Israeli authorities implement a ban on UNRWA’s operations. “We are talking about 40,000 people forcibly displaced from one day to another. The destruction we are witnessing is extensive, systematic, with entire camps being evacuated,” she said.

The escalating violence has severely affected UNRWA’s ability to provide services, particularly in education and healthcare. “Twelve of our schools were forced to close, and we had to shift to online education once again,” Lorenzo reported, and “instead of patients coming to our clinics, we have deployed mobile medical units to refugee camps.”

She highlighted overwhelming needs on the ground: “We are distributing mattresses, pillows, cooking kits – everything is needed. The level of humanitarian distress is extreme.” Despite the ban, which forced the closure of its East Jerusalem headquarters, she said UNWRA continues to operate: “All our schools and health centres remain open unless violence makes it impossible.”

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa issued a letter urging commitment to the Lenten values of fasting, reconciliation and prayer amid conflict. He acknowledged that the “temptation of resignation is great”, but insisted “we want to dare to hope, which is the daughter of faith”.

Cardinal Pizzaballa said the Holy Land was “the place where the great hope of the Church and the world is born and founded”. He said violence had caused physical damage but also a “devastation of the heart, of relationships, of people, that cries out to be rebuilt”.

Fr Francesco Patton OFM, the Custos of the Holy Land, released a video message appealing to the global Church for contributions to the annual Good Friday Collection which supports Christians in the region. He said the war had caused Christians severe economic hardship and unemployment, and denied access to education and medical care.

Despite financial difficulties, the Custody of the Holy Land has continued its mission, he said, thanks to the solidarity of Christians globally. Fr Patton emphasised the importance of sustaining Christian communities and preserving the sacred sites of the Holy Land.

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After Ash Wednesday, a widely circulated picture showing the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio with a cross of ashes marked on his forehead provoked outrage from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Archbishop Atallah Hanna of Sebastia said Rubio’s public display was at odds with US support for Israel, because “a true Christian must stand with the oppressed, the suffering, and the afflicted – not with the oppressors who commit violence and repression against nations”.

He said that politicians who “take pride in the cross and openly declare their Christianity must also acknowledge the historical injustice inflicted upon the Palestinian people and recognise the need to end this oppression so Palestinians can achieve the freedom and peace they deserve”.

CIDSE – the international network of Catholic social justice organisations – praised the documentary No Other Land, co-directed by Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers, which was awarded the Oscar for Best Documentary Film at the Academy Awards on 3 March. The documentary was supported by CIDSE member organisations Broederlijk Delen, CCFD-Terre Solidaire, Entraide et Fraternité and Misereor. 

In their acceptance speech, the filmmakers urged the international community to take decisive action to end the injustice, discrimination and forcible transfer of the Palestinian people. CIDSE and European Jews for Palestine, together with MEP Hana Jalloul, planned a special screening of No Other Land at the European Parliament on 9 April.

In Gaza, Cafod described Israel’s decision on 1 March to block aid to over two million Palestinians as Ramadan began as “shocking”. Elizabeth Funnell, the aid agency’s Country Programme Representative for the Middle East, said the decision, “will have a devastating impact on families already struggling to survive – and will cost lives”.

She said: “Our partners in Gaza told us that prices in the market have already soared. They are relieved that they bought food before the aid was stopped as the price of chicken is four times higher now.” Funnel pointed out that “ensuring the entry of aid is essential for meeting immediate and desperate humanitarian needs, and is a legal obligation under international humanitarian law”.

On Monday, the Israeli authorities cut off electricity to Gaza, even as it sent a team to Qatar to resume talks to extend the fragile ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

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