Considered a potential successor to Pope Francis, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, praised on Tuesday the commitment of the sovereign pontiff to the Gaza Strip.
"Gaza represents, in some way, everything that was at the heart of his pontificate," said Monsignor Pizzaballa in front of a few journalists, including one from AFP.
As the highest Catholic authority in the East, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem explained that Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday at the age of 88, had always defended "closeness to the poor, the marginalized," and "peace."
These commitments, he specified, particularly manifested in his positions on the war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the attack of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, on Israel.
"He was very close to the parish of Gaza, he called them constantly, for a time every evening at 7 p.m., it became something regular for the community, (it was) also comforting for them, and he knew it," Pierbattista Pizzaballa recalled.
Of the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, about a thousand are Christians, mostly Orthodox.
The Latin Patriarchate counts around 135 Catholics in this Palestinian territory. They took refuge within the compound of the Holy Family parish in the city of Gaza in the early days of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Some Orthodox joined them in these Latin Church buildings.
Pope Francis condemned the war in Gaza up to the eve of his death: in his Easter message on Sunday, he denounced the "dramatic humanitarian situation" of the territory.
"Striving for justice without taking part in the conflict," summarized Pierbattista Pizzaballa, estimating that the Church would embrace this "important legacy."
The patriarch did not comment on the lack of public reaction from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, preferring to thank the many personalities, both Palestinian and Israeli, who offered their condolences.
"The local authorities have sometimes said they were not always satisfied, but (they have) always (been) very respectful" of the pope, he pointed out.
Pizzaballa announced that he would travel to Rome by Wednesday, after the requiem mass for the pope celebrated in the morning at the Holy Sepulchre.
As one of the 135 cardinal electors, he will participate in the conclave.
His visits to Gaza since the beginning of the war and his multiple calls for peace have placed him at the forefront of the international scene.
An expert on the Middle East, this 60-year-old Italian Franciscan and theologian, speaking Hebrew and English, arrived in Jerusalem in 1990.