Roberto Paglialonga – Vatican
On Palm Sunday morning, Israeli authorities did not allow Cardinal Pizzaballa and Fr. Francesco Ielpo – Custos of the Holy Land – to enter the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre for the celebration of Holy Mass. The celebration was planned without a procession and crowds of faithful – due to restrictions related to the war in the Middle East. Despite this, the cardinal was not allowed into the Basilica.
Pizzaballa: we want peace and fraternity
Therefore, the patriarch went to the Mount of Olives for a special prayer. “We are experiencing a very complicated situation,” “we have gathered because we want to build peace and fraternity” – emphasized the patriarch at the beginning of the celebration, which took place without pilgrims.
Without procession, without palms
“On this Palm Sunday afternoon, we are here without a procession, without palms waving in the streets,” he said. And “this is not a formal absence, but results from the war that has interrupted our joyful journey, making even the simple joy of following our King difficult. Our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land cannot fill the streets today or join their voices to the joyful procession,” the cardinal added. However, as he pointed out, their absence is not empty before the Lord, because He does not seek triumphal paths, He enters where doors are ajar, where faithfulness is daily bread.
The Risen One among us, even when the way is closed
“The Crucified and Risen One does not cease to pass among us. Even when the way is closed,” he emphasized, speaking from the altar of the Basilica of Gethsemane, facing the walls of the Holy City and surrounded by numerous concelebrants. “He dwells in the heart of those who have not stopped following Him. It is precisely in this forced silence that this liturgy becomes more real. Because the cry ‘Hosanna’ does not need branches to ascend to heaven, and faith does not falter when it lacks external rites,” the patriarch added.
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and over the Holy Land without peace
“Today Jesus weeps again over Jerusalem,” the cardinal said. “He weeps over this city, which remains a sign of hope and pain, grace and suffering. He weeps over this Holy Land, which still cannot recognize the gift of peace.” And further: “He weeps over all the victims of a war that does not want to end, over divided families, over shattered hopes. But Jesus’ tears are never fruitless: they open our eyes, challenge us, reveal the truth.”
Witnesses of a love that does not give up
Therefore – Cardinal Pizzaballa continued – “in this land that still awaits peace, we are called to be witnesses of a love that does not give up. May our journey of faith, even today, be a path of hope. And may our lives, despite the difficulties of the present, be able to bring the love of Christ and His light where everything seems plunged into darkness.”
True power does not lie in violence
Commenting on the Passion of the Lord, the patriarch then dwelled on Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial, Pilate’s silence, the shouts of the crowd demanding Jesus’ crucifixion and death, but also on the figure of the centurion: he discovers that “true power does not lie in violence or in the sword that kills, but in a life freely given.” And so, at this dramatic moment, the centurion utters the supreme confession: this man is the Son of God. “It is precisely at the moment when death seems to triumph that truth is revealed, love is shown, and salvation is accomplished,” said Cardinal Pizzaballa.
Peace is the fruit of the cross: God gives Himself completely
“Even today, when war seems to stifle every word of peace, here – where Jesus wept – we can hear the same confession. God’s last word is the empty tomb. It is the Lord who precedes the disciples in Galilee and also precedes us, leading us to a peace that is not an illusion, but the fruit of the cross,” the cardinal said. He then added: “the peace that Jesus offers is not a fragile agreement between enemies, but a peace born of the cross – a peace that comes from God giving Himself completely and not needing force or weapons. This is the paradox we are called to embrace today.”
Because “Jerusalem, the Holy Land, is not just a geographical place; it is the beating heart of our faith. Every stone here speaks of salvation; every hill carries the memory of God who chose to draw near,” he added. Therefore – he said – “to live faith in this land means to accept the contradiction it embodies: the place of resurrection is also the place of Calvary; the place of God’s embrace is still marked by too much hatred.”
Pain will not extinguish hope
The cardinal added that it is from this holy place that “we learn to look at the city with the eyes of Christ. We learn to weep with Him, but also to hope with Him. Because the same Jerusalem that rejected the Prince of Peace also saw the empty tomb. War will not erase the resurrection. Pain will not extinguish hope,” the patriarch concluded.
