Status: December 25, 2021 3:30 a.m.
Christmas has traditionally been heralded in Bethlehem. At midnight mass, the head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, Patriarch Pizzaballa, called for a “future of the good” to be built.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pizzaballa, called for more trust at midnight mass in Bethlehem. The crisis of confidence, especially between Arabs and Jews in Israel, is a warning that peaceful coexistence must be actively promoted.
It is about “restoring trust among us, trust in the future, ours and that of our children, trust in the possibility of change for the better, both in civil life and in the Church,” said the head of the Latin Catholics in the Holy Land in his homily at midnight mass in Bethlehem.
Don’t just announce, do it too
The Italian Franciscan called on people to actively build a “future of the good”. Limiting oneself to denouncing evil would be “a lack of belief”. In a “Babylon of announcements, declarations and modern prophecies that reach us through the many media,” it is important to find those voices that lead to Jesus and salvation.
Pizzaballa went into detail about the situation in Israel and Palestine and called for an end to the years of occupation and violence. In addition to the “worrying voices of the increasing division in society” in Israel, there is the deafening “voice of pain” of the Palestinians – a people who must experience justice.
Pilgrims are missing in Bethlehem due to pandemic
With a view to Christmas in Bethlehem, the Patriarch drew a mixed balance. The festival this year is more cheerful than last year and with much greater participation. At the same time, for the second year of the pandemic in a row, the pilgrims who usually filled the city and provided many families with a livelihood were again absent.
Pizzaballa expressed the hope that “with a joint action by politics, church and tour operators, locally and internationally, safe ways could be found” to resume the pilgrimage despite the pandemic.