Cardinal Pizzaballa: Jerusalem is called to heal the world’s wounds
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa released a pastoral letter addressing Christians amid the ongoing conflict in the Holy Land. The letter, titled "They returned to Jerusalem with great joy: A proposal for living the vocation of the Church in the Holy Land," calls for a renewed focus on healing and coexistence. Pizzaballa frames Jerusalem as a symbol of civil and religious coexistence, urging the Church to act as a healer of the world’s wounds. The document is organized into three parts: an assessment of the region’s current state, a vision for the Church of Jerusalem, and pastoral implications for parishes, families, schools, and institutions. He notes that the war has closed one era and opened another, describing the transition as occurring in the worst possible way.
2 days ago
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, issued a pastoral letter titled “They returned to Jerusalem with great joy” that reflects on the war sparked by the Oct. 7 2023 Hamas attacks and outlines a spiritual and communal response for Christians in the Holy Land. He stresses Jerusalem’s universal significance, its mission to heal the world’s wounds, and offers concrete pastoral guidance for families, schools, and social services. 1 2
The letter was released in late April 2026, amid ongoing hostilities in Gaza and Israel. Pizzaballa frames the conflict as a “watershed event” that ends one era and opens another, exposing the fragility of the international order and a renewed reliance on force. 2
He notes that the war is not merely a local dispute but a symptom of a deeper global crisis, amplified by media manipulation and the erosion of dialogue, justice, and human‑rights language. 1 2
Pizzaballa declares that “Jerusalem belongs to no one; it belongs to everyone,” emphasizing its role as the “heart of the world” and a heritage of all believers. 1
Drawing on the Book of Revelation, he portrays the city as an open, therapeutic space called to “heal the nations” and to embody coexistence of civil and religious life. 2
The patriarch rejects the “dehumanization of the other” and condemns the use of God’s name to justify war, calling it “the gravest sin of our time.” 1 2
He urges Christians to reject systems of sin that deny human dignity, while distinguishing this rejection from condemnation of individuals. 1
Prayer is presented as the “heart, the breath” of the community, essential for sustaining hope. 1
Families are described as “domestic churches,” and Christian schools are envisioned as “workshops of a new humanity” where children learn coexistence without resentment. 1 2
Hospitals, Caritas centers, and other charitable institutions are highlighted as places where inter‑religious encounter already occurs. 1
Ecumenical and inter‑religious dialogue are called for at both institutional and daily levels, with particular emphasis on the prophetic role of youth and the memory of the elderly. 2
Despite the violence, Pizzaballa urges believers not to succumb to despair. He invites the faithful to “return to Jerusalem with joy,” a paschal joy rooted in the conviction that “light conquers darkness and love disarms hatred.” 1 2
He concludes that the Church’s strength lies not in its own power but in the joy of the Gospel and the intercession of the Virgin Mary. 1
Jerusalem as universal heritage demands Church’s healing mission
Jerusalem holds a singular place in Christian faith—not merely as a location, but as a universal heritage tied to God’s history of salvation, reconciliation, and pilgrimage. Because that heritage is also marked by wounds and division, the Church’s response must include a genuinely healing mission: spiritual healing through Christ and the sacraments, and concrete healing expressed through presence, charity, and peacemaking.
Stated in Pope John Paul II’s teaching, Jerusalem is a “crossroads of peace” whose vocation is mysterious and salvific—a vocation that involves not only local Christians but “all believers, Jews, Christians and Muslims.”
In Ecclesia in Asia, the Holy Father presents Jerusalem as “the city of reconciliation of men with God and among themselves,” while also acknowledging that it has “so often been a place of conflict and division.” This tension is crucial: it explains why Christian solidarity cannot be purely symbolic; it must become effective assistance for peace, justice, and reconciliation.
John Paul II also stresses that Jerusalem occupies a “unique and cherished position” in the hearts of believers worldwide, and he explicitly calls particular Churches to stand in solidarity with the Church in Jerusalem by sharing her sorrows, praying for her, and cooperating in serving peace, justice, and reconciliation.
This makes “universal heritage” more than heritage in the broad sense (history, art, archaeology). It is heritage as a spiritual responsibility because it is bound to the Christian story—Christ lived, died, and rose again there, and the Apostles went out from there to proclaim the Gospel.
Pope Benedict XVI, in the Chrism Mass, describes healing as a “fundamental task entrusted by Jesus to the Church,” following Christ’s own ministry and sending of the disciples “to preach the kingdom of God and to heal.”
He adds a key theological link: the proclamation of God’s Kingdom must be a process that brings healing—“bind up the broken-hearted.”
So, if Jerusalem is a place where hearts are broken by conflict and division, the Church’s healing mission is not merely relevant; it is demanded by her identity as a healer-community.
Benedict XVI explains that when the relationship with God is disturbed, “all the rest is disturbed as well,” and therefore “the first and fundamental healing” occurs in encounter with Christ who reconciles us and “mends our broken hearts.”
This is important for interpreting “healing” in Jerusalem’s context: the Church seeks peace and reconciliation not as a substitute for spiritual conversion, but as something that flows from it.
A Dicastery for Integral Human Development document (in the context of mental health) describes how pastoral accompaniment should be intertwined with catechesis on the “therapeutic and salvific power” of the Church’s sacraments. It names two sacraments of healing—Penance-Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick—and highlights the Eucharist as “the healing grace par excellence.”
It further states that wherever Mass is celebrated, especially when “sick and suffering people are present,” the Church as a “healing community” finds fulfillment: Christ’s healing love re-establishes communion with God and with others.
In a region like the Holy Land—where the Church’s own flock experiences vulnerability—this directly grounds “healing mission” in liturgical and sacramental ministry, not only in social programs.
The same document insists that the Church’s first duty is “to be a PRESENCE,” and that this obligation cannot be delegated only to specialists; rather, “embraces the WHOLE Church.”
It describes healing as ecclesial communion: a presence “capable of seeing, intercedes and knows how to patiently weave relationships.”
This matters for “Jerusalem as universal heritage”: solidarity is not only visiting or admiring holy places, but participating in the Church’s healing presence to those who suffer within the Holy City.
The USCCB’s Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services explains that Jesus’ healing mission went “further than caring only for physical affliction,” touching “physical, mental, and spiritual healing.”
Likewise, Catholic health care should view healing and compassion as continuing Christ’s mission, with suffering understood in connection to Christ’s redemptive passion and resurrection.
So the Church’s healing mission in Jerusalem must be both spiritual and embodied: prayer and reconciliation, but also service to people’s real needs.
A 2025 appeal for a collection for Christians in the Holy Land explains that many Christians were forced into exile after the pandemic interrupted pilgrimages and economic activities. It explicitly frames the Holy Land and Holy Places as the “heritage of all of us,” calling bishops and communities to support Christian communities that offer worship and prayer.
The appeal requests that the faithful sustain this “precious presence,” directly linked to the time of Jesus.
Thus, “Jerusalem as universal heritage” has a healing aspect: sustaining a persecuted or displaced community is part of healing the social and ecclesial damage produced by violence and instability.
John Paul II renews an appeal to leaders and people of good will to ensure “the peace and integrity of Jerusalem.”
This positions the Church’s mission as reconciliation-oriented. Healing here means making room for peace and justice between peoples and religions in the Holy City—matching the same logic that Jerusalem is reconciliation, yet also a site of division.
Because the Church asks for peace, justice, and reconciliation, it may be misread as a purely political project. However, Benedict XVI grounds healing first in reconciliation with God and the “encounter with Christ,” which then mends the broken heart and orders human relationships.
Therefore, political peace is embraced—but as an outflow of (and preparation for) deeper spiritual reconciliation.
If “healing mission” is reduced to prayer alone, Catholic teaching offers a corrective. The USCCB’s guidelines state that the Church recognizes healing by divine grace and healing through natural powers, and these are not mutually exclusive; recourse to natural means of healing remains appropriate because Christian charity demands it.
In practice, this means Jerusalem’s healing mission can include medicine, institutions, and care—while also keeping sacramental and prayerful healing at the center.
From the sources, a coherent pattern emerges for how “universal heritage” must produce “healing mission”:
Benedict XVI emphasizes that since apostolic times the Church’s healing vocation has matured, including loving solicitude for those distressed “in body and soul,” visible in the oil of the Anointing of the Sick.
That historical continuity means Jerusalem is not a new pastoral challenge; rather, it is one that calls the Church to act according to her permanent mission.
Jerusalem’s status as universal heritage carries an ecclesial consequence: because the Holy City is a “city of reconciliation” yet marked by conflict and division, the Church is called to a healing mission that is primarily Christ-centered (reconciliation with God and “mending hearts”), sacramentally expressed (Penance, Anointing, Eucharist), and socially embodied (presence, charity, and cooperation for peace).