Reflections on Faith and Public Life
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
This event has been postponed.听
Co-sponsored with The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy听and the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, was born in Cologno al Serio, Bergamo, Italy and entered the order of the Friars Minor in Ferrara (Santo Spirito) before his ordination as a priest in 1990. After a period in Rome, he moved to Jerusalem that same year, obtaining a licentiate in biblical theology from the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. Pierbattista served as Custos of the Holy Land since 2004, and in 2020 Pope Francis appointed him as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, proclaiming him a Cardinal in 2023.听
DuBois, Heather M., and Janna Hunter-Bowman. 鈥淭he Intersection of Christian Theology and Peacebuilding.鈥� In The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding. Edited by Atalia Omer, R. Scott Appleby, and David Little. Oxford University Press, 2015. .
Lederach, John Paul. 鈥淪pirituality and Religious Peacebuilding.鈥� In The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding. Edited by Atalia Omer, R. Scott Appleby, and David Little. Oxford University Press, 2015.
Lynch, Cecelia. 鈥淩eligious Communities and Possibilities for Justpeace.鈥� In The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding. Edited by Atalia Omer, R. Scott Appleby, and David Little. Oxford University Press, 2015. .
Philpott, Daniel. 鈥淩econciliation, Politics, and Transitional Justice.鈥� In The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding. Edited by Atalia Omer, R. Scott Appleby, and David Little. Oxford University Press, 2015. .
Tonelli, Debora and Mannion, Gerard Michael J. Exiting Violence: The Role of Religion. Boston: De Gruyter, 2024.
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Linda Bordoni wrote an article for Vatican News titled 鈥�,鈥� which discusses Cardinal Pizzaballa鈥檚 view on the use of religion to justify continued conflict in the Middle East. In discussing the current conflict between the U.S.-Israeli coalition and Iran, Cardinal Pizzaballa stated that world leaders cannot continue to use God鈥檚 name to justify another war in the Middle East. Wars are primarily political and have concrete material repercussions in the lives of millions, making it highly dangerous for leaders to invoke religious language to justify conflicts. Cardinal Pizzaballa specifically referenced the U.S. Secretary of War鈥檚 use of Psalm 144 during a briefing to invoke a divine blessing for an attack against Iran. He asserted that leaders must do everything in their power to leave no room for pseudo-religious language in justifying war. The Cardinal pointed out that if God is at all present in this war, he is on the side of those who are oppressed and dying, not on the side of those who are perpetrating violence in God鈥檚 name. He emphasized that it is crucial for the Church to continue speaking on the matter in order to combat the misuse of God鈥檚 name and to invest in a collective future. Cardinal Pizzaballa also noted that the current conflict has pulled media attention away from the humanitarian situations in Gaza and the West Bank, which remain dire. Two million people have been displaced, and eighty percent of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed. The situation in the West Bank is deteriorating continuously, with Palestinian villages being attacked by settlers almost every day.听 听