Everything was planned for Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa to take possession of his parish in Rome. But that same morning the Vatican confirmed he would not be present and the celebration would be postponed to another date not yet specified.
The official reasons for his absence have not been revealed. The Cardinal has traveled over the last few months with the ongoing war. It seems that the Patriarch of Jerusalem prefers to remain in the Holy Land at this time, especially in the wake of the escalation of the conflict with Iran's intervention.
The Iranian attack took place on the night of April 13, when for the first time, the country launched more than 300 missiles and drones on Israel. 99% were intercepted, costing the Israeli defense about one billion dollars. No fatalities were reported.
The situation in the area has also been a cause of concern for Pope Francis. During his Regina Caeli prayer, he called for an end to the violence in the Middle East once and for all.
POPE FRANCIS
I follow with prayer and concern and also pain the news in the last hours about the worsening situation in Israel due to Iran's intervention. I make a heartfelt plea to stop all actions that could fuel a spiral of violence and that could drag the Middle East into an even greater conflict.
The Holy See and the Islamic Republic of Iran have maintained diplomatic relations since the time of Pius XII.
One of the last diplomatic gestures between the two states took place in October 2023, when the Iranian Foreign Minister called his counterpart in the Holy See, Archbishop Gallagher, to discuss the situation in the Middle East. The latter asked Iran to avoid an escalation of hostilities.
CA
TR: KG
