"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (JN 15:13)
Jerusalem Catholic Patriarch offers to be exchanged for Gaza hostages
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa made his comment in response to a question during a video conference with journalists in Italy.
By The Jerusalem Post via REUTERS | OCTOBER 16, 2023
Pope Francis' representative in the Holy Land said on Monday he was willing to exchange himself for Israeli children taken hostage by Hamas and held in Gaza.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, made his comment in response to a question during a video conference with journalists in Italy.
"I am ready for an exchange, anything, if this can lead to freedom, to bring the children home. No problem. There is total willingness on my part," he said.
"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," he said.
He stressed, however, that he and his office had not yet had any direct contact with Hamas, the terrorist group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,300 people.
"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.
Pizzaballa oversees Roman Catholic activities in Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as Jordan and Cyprus, a region which is home to an estimated 300,000 Roman Catholics.
PHOTO CREDIT:
- Msgr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa the day of his episcopal consecration
- Giovanni Zennaro, via Wikimedia Commons
