PizzaBalla: Jerusalem's first cardinal and peace ambassador as a papal candidate

PizzaBalla: Jerusalem's first cardinal and peace ambassador as a papal candidate

The Latin patriarch by Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, is a striking figure in the dark corridors of the old stone building of the patriarchy in this restless corner of the world. He moves quickly with long, thoughtful steps, while the seams of his black habit like the swimming trains of an athlete blow behind him.

The way to Jerusalem

Cardinal Pizzaballa was born in Bergamo, northern Italy, but after 35 years, which he devoted to the concerns of his community, he says: "I usually have no idea what people talk about in Italy." His elderly mother still holds him connected to his home.

a cardinal with a very special mission

One of the topics in the Vatican revolves around pizza ball itself. Although he is younger for a decade than the candidates regarding the favorites, the first cardinal Jerusalems has the potential to be in public, especially through the war in the Gaza Strip, which forced him to ask difficult questions about faith and humanity.

"Everyone has questions, including myself," said PizzaBalla in an interview less than two weeks before the death of Pope Francis. "You are so frustrated about the situation that you ask: 'Where are you?' To God. 'Where are you?' Then I come to myself and understand that the question should be: 'Where does man stand now? What did we do with our humanity?'

a remarkable proposal

pizzaBalla, who turned 60 last month, came to Jerusalem at the age of 25 as a priest in his first month of service. He grew up in such Paupertät that admission to a monastic life also included consideration that his family had to feed one mouth less.

Nevertheless, he was inspired above all by a local, cycling priest, who brought joy and spirit into the world of the growing boy.

The public knew pizza balla before the death of Pope Francis, primarily because he considered it so "obviously" that it seems almost meaningless: nine days after the outbreak of the war between Israel and Gaza - and two weeks after taking office as a cardinal - he offered himself in exchange for the Israeli children kidnapped on October 7th

In a closed conference conference with Vatican journalists, who served to discuss his historical appointment, PizzaBalla simply said: "I am ready for an exchange, everything if this can lead to freedom to bring the children home ... there is my full advice there."

a complex reality

he remembered the "weird question", but he was really serious. "I didn't expect the reaction. Wonderful reaction in the world, but not in Palestine," he said CNN. "Why is Israeli children and not Palestinian children? My answer was ... I'm also ready for you. No problem." What he said at that moment in conversation with the journalists was "very naive", he admits.

Nevertheless, the fact that, in the middle of chaos and the lack of leadership that shaped this phase of war, no other figure - whether politically or religious, locally or globally - has repeated his reflex -like proposal, has repeated a source of astonishment for him. Just like the fact that nobody reacted in an influential position.

management approaches in faith

"At that moment my impression is that the management institutions are in a way paralyzed by their role," said Pizzaballa. "The teaching I see here is that faith and power do not harmonize well. If you want to be independent as a religious guide, you have to be independent of any kind of power, be it economic, political or social power."

On the occasion of the beginning of the war, Pizzaballa had predicted foresight: "The first thing to do is try to win the release of the hostages, otherwise there will be no way to stop an escalation" and added carefully: "You can't talk to Hamas. It is very difficult."

Ninsehen months later, with Israel, which on Randen of a war expansion, and still 59 Hostages that are captured by Hamas appear prophetic.

a life in the service of faith

pizzaBalla takes his own contradictions. The Franciscan, who devoted his life to a universal church, moves effortlessly among the Jewish and Muslim majorities, in the middle of which he has built up a life. As a Latin patriarch of Jerusalem since 2020, he has the surviving Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian areas, Jordan and Cyprus.

After almost his entire adult life in Jerusalem and with a doctorate at the Hebrew University, PizzaBalla can plausibly argue in a theological discussion on YouTube on a running Hebrew with an orthodox rabbi and sounds like two old neighbors in a café.

It is easy to imagine the mentally agile, tall pizza balla as a former athlete who has retired and is now an academic.

But faith is the core of his life. His new cardinal title and the war forced him to slip into the unusual role, to speak in the Vatican for both Israelis and Palestinians - especially for people in the Gaza Strip. He feels the need to "be the voice of my people worldwide, but also the voice of faith for my people."

humanity in the face of war

The war also forced PizzaBalla to react to the immediate, existential fear regarding the question of common humanity. "One of the problems we have now is that we tend to dehuman the other. You shouldn't do that," explains Pizzaballa with a determination that blurred any doubt. "The other is one person. Whoever he is, he is a person. They have to hold on."

"We have lost everything. We have lost confidence, we have lost relationships. Many families have lost their jobs. They have lost everything. My community in the Gaza Strip has lost their houses and their future ..." He hits and sinks into thoughts.

an angel in difficult times

pizzaBalla has visited Gaza twice since the beginning of the war, once in May and again shortly before Christmas. "The emotional influence was very strong," he realizes, with a "difficult, difficult impression of the situation."

It was his belief that led him through these times. To the test, challenged, sometimes even doubted, but ultimately became stronger by all the questions on his way. So he would define a large part of a life that was dedicated to the service at the church.

"Faith is the only thing you can grasp, what you can keep alive in your life," he said. And if everything else fails: "Believe is a way to go beyond yourself. Belief means to believe in someone else."

During his visits to Gaza, he bought food from the Muslim community in Jerusalem, stored it from a Jewish company and brought them to the Christians in the besieged coastal area.

"I see many lights everywhere in this sea of ​​darkness, and that gives me hope," he said.

pizzaBalla's serenity with itself and his authenticity have won the hearts of the Jerusalemites. His parish, mostly Palestinian, sees him confirmation of her own old connections to the roots of Christian identity.

When he sat in the black sedan, which would bring him to Ben Gurion and the conclave airport, some employees of the patriarchy and friends who came to accompany him to accompany him on this important occasion.

"Lord, wise his steps with wisdom, fulfill his heart with spirit, and be with him when it is your prayer for him to lead your church," she Chered.

It was a tender farewell that almost seemed like a farewell. As it corresponds to its kind, Pizzaballa did not participate in such sentimentalities and ended his short remarks before departure with the request to pray for him, and a simple, crisp "see you soon".