“They returned to Jerusalem with great joy”
A proposal for living out the Church’s vocation in the Holy Land
an invitation to read the pastoral letter of Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, to express our closeness and friendship, to intensify our prayers for the peoples living in the Middle East, for the Church in the Holy Land and in Jerusalem, the heart of the world
“The Letter is structured in three parts: the first begins with my assessment of the current state of disorder. Before speaking of ideals, it is necessary to anchor ourselves firmly in reality as it is, while recognizing God’s active presence in it.
In the second part, I would like to share a vision for our community, inspired and anchored in Scripture, specifically anchored in Jerusalem.
The third will seek to translate that same vision into pastoral implications for our church community, addressing the activities of our parishes, families, schools, and institutions.
As I have already said, this Letter is primarily pastoral in nature: it does not contain purely political considerations and analyses. It is “political” only in the broader sense, in that it concerns our remaining in the polis as Christians, that is, remaining in our real world and in our City of Jerusalem, while always oriented toward the true and definitive polis, the heavenly Jerusalem” .
