His Beatitude Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa Participating in a Conference on Reconciliation in Milan: Which Path to Forgiveness?

By: Cécile Leca/ lpj.org

MILAN - On Saturday, February 12, 2022, in partnership with the Festival della Missione, Terra Santa and Caritas Ambrosiana, His Beatitude Mgr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, participated in a conference on the theme of reconciliation, organized by the Archdiocese of Milan. 

Held before a reduced audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but with many listeners connected via the Internet, this conference included, in addition to Patriarch Pizzaballa, Archbishop Mario Delpini of Milan, Adolfo Ceretti (professor of criminology at the University of Milan-Bicocca), Bishop Christian Carlassare (Bishop of Rumbek, Sudan), Gemma Capra (widow of Police Commissioner Luigi Calabresi) and Davide Bernocci (Catholic Relief Services). It was broadcast on the YouTube channel of Caritas Ambrosiana and on the diocesan website, and can be viewed again (in Italian) here.

After Bishop Delpini's opening speech, in which he recalled the mission of Christians - to be "prophets" announcing the word of God - each of the participants was able to testify to their own experience of forgiveness and reconciliation. From Sudan to Iraq, passing through the Holy Land, Colombia and Italy, the different interventions, sometimes moving but always full of hope, drew a poignant portrait of what reconciliation is for a Christian.

"It is only through faith that one can forgive freely, without expecting anything in return," said Mgr Carlassare, who was shot in Sudan a few months after his appointment as bishop of Rumbek. "And we grant this forgiveness not only because the other deserves it, but because it also gives us an inner freedom that allows us to move forward."

During his speech, Archbishop Pizzaballa said that "in the Holy Land, we are in a situation of exhausting conflict that makes it difficult to understand the other, because everyone sees only his own pain. But there are many people who are not afraid of dialogue, even if it is less and less talked about…

This news was originally published on the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem website. Please click here to read the full text.