A Call for Hope and Solidarity Amidst the Darkness of Conflict

"These are dark times, in which it seems that the darkness of Good Friday covers your Earth and too many parts of the world disfigured by the senseless madness of war, which is always and for everyone a bloody defeat." Pope Francis took pen to paper to address a letter to Catholics living in Israel and Palestine who this year will have to settle for a rather desolate Easter, without tourists and pilgrims, without being able to move easily, with economic insecurity since the tourism sector has been at a standstill since the conflict erupted following the Hamas pogrom on October 7th. The Pontiff invites them not to give up, to hold on, not to lose hope. "You are lit torches in the night; you are seeds of good in a land torn by conflicts." Finally, he reassures them that the concrete solidarity of the Church will not be lacking and that the Catholics in Palestine will not be left alone. Amit, an Israeli lawyer kidnapped by Hamas and held hostage until November breaks the silence: "I was raped in Gaza." In recent days, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has invited European and American pilgrims to overcome their fears and resume traveling to Israel. "Do not be afraid to return to the Holy Land, you are a presence of peace in a place that so much needs it." Then he urged Catholics to be supportive. "We hope that this night will pass as soon as possible." Pizzaballa also repeated that beyond the terrible violence of the bombs, there is now the crisis of ordinary life. Food, medicine, water are lacking. "For example, our Christians in Gaza manage to cook once or twice and what they cook must last at least for a week." As for the future for everyone remains an unknown. After this crisis, one of the most serious ever in the last 70 years, neither Israelis nor Palestinians seem more inclined to temporary solutions. Even the hypothesis of two peoples and two states seems to be downsized. The Bergamo cardinal who has lived in Israel for over twenty years and knows the entire Middle Eastern area well has few illusions: "I don't know," he says to Vatican News, "Technically it seems difficult to me even though it would be the only possible way. It is clear that whatever is chosen to be done must guarantee stability and freedom to both peoples." Gaza, Meloni: "The war was started by Hamas."