As tensions, conflicts, and scarcity afflict communities in the Middle East amid the harsh winter, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem spoke with concern in a Jan. 13 Vatican News interview about the situations faced by people in Gaza, the West Bank, and Iran.
The landscape in Gaza is one of “total devastation,” even amid the ceasefire, Cardinal Pierbattiasta Pizzaballa told the outlet. According to the cardinal, people continue to die not only due to the cold but because of lack of essential medicine. However, some relief is coming from Jordan, which has been providing medical assistance to Palestinians from Gaza who need immediate aid, he said.
The interview with Vatican News comes amid Cardinal Pizzaballa’s visit to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for a multi-day meeting with several bishops and almost 60 priests about local parishes.
The outlet notes that the cardinal encouraged people to return to the Holy Land on pilgrimages, saying they are “absolutely safe.”
In the West Bank, complications with movement and permits, as well as settler attacks, are affecting basic needs of the community, according to Cardinal Pizzaballa.
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In the summer of 2025, the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem urged the Israeli government to act following reported settler attacks on the Christian village of Taybeh in the West Bank, as CatholicVote previously reported.
At the time, the spiritual leaders condemned what they described as a “violent assault” targeting the Christian town July 28, warning that the attack marked a pattern of settler violence against communities in the West Bank. According to Germany-based global news network DW News, threats of settler attacks continued to loom over Taybeh’s Christian community during the Christmas season.
Cardinal Pizzaballa also commented in the Jan. 13 interview on the anti-government protests in Iran and said he hopes the conditions will not worsen into further “violence and bloodshed”.
He said Iranians have been suffering for a long time, according to Vatican News.
Amid the protests, it is evident that “the desire of life, dignity, and justice is inside the heart of any human being” and that this longing cannot be denied or neglected, the cardinal said.
This desire, he added, “is part of the identity of each person and community.”
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