Vatican City, Oct 17, 2023: The Catholic Church’s top official in the Holy Land has expressed his willingness to exchange himself for the children taken hostage by Hamas terrorists and being held in Gaza.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa made the offer on October 17 as officials around the world worked to free those kidnapped amid an imminent Israeli ground assault.
The cardinal, Pope Francis’ representative in the Holy Land, made the heartfelt, though unofficial, offer in response to a question during a video conference with journalists in Italy.
“If I’m available for an exchange?” Pizzaballa responded. “Anything, if this could bring about the freedom of children, no problem. My absolute willingness.”
More than 3,600 people have been killed since Hamas launched its attack against Israel on October 7, leading to military action from Israeli forces. Hamas is also believed to be holding at least 199 people, including children, hostage in Gaza.
“The first thing to do is to try to win the release of the hostages, otherwise there will be no way of stopping (an escalation). We are willing to help, even me personally,” the cardinal said.
He stressed, however, that he and his office had not yet had any direct contact with Hamas, the militant Islamist group.
“You can’t talk to Hamas. It is very difficult,” he said.
About 200 people were taken hostage and about a dozen of them are believed to be children.
Cardinal Pizzaballa oversees Catholic activities in Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as Jordan and Cyprus, a region which is home to an estimated 300,000 Catholics.
Diplomatic efforts have been intensifying to get aid into Gaza as Israel prepares a ground invasion to destroy Hamas.
Authorities in Gaza said at least 2,750 people had so far been killed by the Israeli strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. Another 1,000 people were missing and believed to be under rubble.
Cardinal Pizzaballa said that about 1,000 Christians were sheltering in Church buildings in northern Gaza after their homes were destroyed in Israeli strikes.
“They don’t know where to go because moving is dangerous,” he said.
Israel has urged exhausted Gazans to evacuate to the south, which hundreds of thousands have already done in the enclave that is home to more than 2 million people. Hamas, which runs Gaza, has told people to ignore Israel’s message.
Sources: Reuters, foxnews.com
Catholics from all countries – provided they are truly devout Catholics – must follow the example of Cardinal Pierbattsta Pizzaballa and say: “I am available for an exchange with Israelite hostages and also protection of innocent lives in Gaza. I am from Kolkata, and am offering myself along with the Cardinal for the release of the hostages. If my offer can bring freedom of children, I am absolutely willing to be available for exchange with them. Amen.”
It is a bounden duty of the Catholic Church to take all possible steps to stop war apart from praying for peace.
The situation in Gaza and in Israel is indeed extremely nerve-racking and deplorable, to say the least, considering the reported kidnap of young women, children, old persons and even people with infirmities.
The brash remarks by Israeli PM and his team will only exacerbate the situation and aggravate the lives of reported 250 Israeli hostages (videos shown today on India Today TV). Such razor’s edge matters should be dealt with discreetly without being overly explicit about the military action to be taken. However, in today’s world everything crystallizes to business and wars like the Ukraine-Russia war, are hugely profit-making business enterprises for nations which encash their scientific advancement by manufacturing advanced weaponry of mass destruction in the name of cutting-edge technology.
The irony of the whole mayhem is Hamas were promoted and bolstered by Israel to clip the wings of Yasser Arafat (first president of the Palestinian Authority and ironically also joint awardee of 1994 Nobel Prize for Peace along with Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres of Israel) just as Al Qaeda and its leader Bin Laden were created by the US to oust Russia from Afghanistan. The whole world knows of the ignominious exit of the US from Vietnam and Afghanistan.
In this scenario Cardinal Pierbattsta Pizzaballa’s (Catholic Church’s top official in the Holy Land) offer to help in bringing about peace and even offer himself to release mainly children hostages, has added a new dimension to the very volatile 24×7 gunpowder ambience in Gaza. Let’s pray and hope he pulls off a miracle.
By the way, Nahoum & Sons Pvt Ltd, the 121-year old Jewish bakery (established by a Baghdadi Jew, Nahoum Israel Mordecai, in 1902), still stands tall in Kolkata’s famous New Market. Hope Nahoum continues its legacy for another century.
The cardinal’s offer is a bold step. Will his offer be accepted by Hamas terrorists? Anyway, we need to pray for peace in the war zone.
Beautiful and courageous gesture. God bless him.