JERUSALEM, Israel.- The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalemthe cardinal From Pierbattista Pizzabareleased this Easter Sunday his congratulations to the believers in a Passover marked by the war with Iranin which he called for celebration despite the “darkness” of the current moment.
“In the gospels we see that the event of the resurrection It happened during the night. Because when the women arrived first thing in the morning (at the tomb of Jesus Christ) it had already happened,” explains Pizzaballa, the highest representative of Catholicism in Holy Landin a video statement.
“Jesus rose in the middle of the night. In the darkness. This is also my message: there is no darkness, there is no situation that does not allow us to celebrate,” says the cardinal.
Easter Message 2026 by His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Easter 2026 Message from His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/nJTt9t3U79
— Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (@LPJerusalem) April 5, 2026
Pizzaballa recognized that it is a Holy Week “very strange” and held in a “discreet” way, amid the restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on meetings due to the war with Iran, which also closed the holy places of the Jerusalem Old City.
They prevent mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
On Palm Sunday, Israeli police prevented the cardinal from celebrating mass in the church of the holy sepulcher alleging the aforementioned closure. The incident caused such an international stir that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuhad to rectify and allow the Latin patriarch to celebrate the rites with limited attendance in said basilica.
In this context and in light of the metaphor about darkness, the cardinal stressed that the resurrection is an act of “disobedience to distrust and fear.”
“We do not allow darkness to take over our hearts, our ways of thinking, our attitudes, our religions,” he continues. “Even today, despite everything, this is my congratulations to everyone: there is no situation that condemns us to live eternally under the shadow of death. Nothing, not even here.”
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