'We are not afraid,' Jerusalem Patriarch emphasizes in Palm Sunday message (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

In his message for the annual Palm Sunday procession, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem said, “We are here today, local Christians and pilgrims, all together, to say strongly that we are not afraid.”

“We should not be afraid of those who want to divide, those who want to exclude or those who want to take possession of the soul of this Holy City, because forever and ever Jerusalem will remain a house of prayer for all peoples (Isaiah 56:7), and no one will be able to possess it,” said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM.

“Those who belong to Jesus will always continue to be among those who build up and not tear down, who know how to respond to hatred with love and unity, and to rejection oppose acceptance,” he continued. “For Jerusalem is the place of Christ’s death and resurrection, the place of reconciliation, of a love that saves and overcomes the boundaries of pain and death.”