When asked what Christians can do outside the Holy Land, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa responded: “Pray and support. Support the Christian community as much as they can.” / Credit: EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 21, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has indicated that for now a two-state solution to end the war between Israel and Hamas in the Holy Land is “not realistic.”

“My impression is that no one wants a wider conflict, but no one is able to stop it,” Pizzaballa told EWTN’s Colm Flynn in an exclusive interview. “Now you need something new, creative, I don’t know what, but all the previous agreements, ideas, the prospective two-state solution, everything is not realistic now,” the cardinal explained.

Pizzaballa said the war between Israel and Hamas that has been underway since Oct. 7, 2023, is the worst period the people of the Holy Land have experienced in the last 35 years. 

“Not only for the violence … but the proportion, the impact, also the emotional impact on the population, Israelis and Palestinians, and now in Lebanon, which is enormous,” he added.

Following the Hamas incursion into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel responded with a major military operation in Gaza, which has also involved Iran and Lebanon.

Over the past year, Pope Francis has frequently called for a cease-fire and an end to the war in the Holy Land, especially after praying the Angelus on Sundays. On Oct. 17, he received a former prime minister from Israel and three top former Palestinian ministers at the Vatican, to discuss the situation.

In his interview with Flynn, Pizzaballa expressed his concern about “the language of hatred” found everywhere. “This is terrible. And my concern is not so much about the war. Wars are not eternal; they finish, like all wars, but what will be after, the consequences will be terrible.”

The Church is the voice of the poor

Regarding the negotiations that must take place to achieve peace, the cardinal commented: “I don’t think the Church should enter these things. The Church is better to remain outside … because if you enter, you are not free. The strength of the Church is to be a voice, the voice of the poor.”

After indicating that “everyone has to do his job. I mean, politicians have to find a political perspective and religious leaders have to help people to find hope.” The patriarch of Jerusalem also made clear that “peace is an attitude. It’s not just an agreement.”

However, Pizzaballa continued, given the current situation “it’s not realistic to talk about peace. Now, what we have to first of all talk about is a cease-fire, to stop any kind of violence … to find also new leadership with vision, political vision, also religious leaders. And then you can think about a new perspective for the Middle East, not before.”

On the subject of hunger as a weapon of war, the cardinal regretted what is happening in Gaza and highlighted that the aid sent by international organizations is not enough to care for 2 million people.

When asked what Christians can do outside the Holy Land, Pizzaballa responded: “Pray and support. Support the Christian community as much as they can.” 

Message to Israelis and Palestinians

After emphasizing that violence is not a solution, the patriarch of Jerusalem insisted that “Palestinians and Israelis are called by God to live one close to another, not against the other. And they have to rediscover their call.” 

He further underscored that “the answer to the violence and to the evil is the cross.” He said “it is not impossible” to see God in the midst of all this because “the Gospel is not an idea or a narrative, it is life” and pointed to the need for everyone to “trust more in the power of grace of God.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.