Italian bishops: Gaza hospital 'concrete solidarity'

The Italian bishops’ conference say they are helping to build a hospital in Gaza as a way of “concrete help” to their public rhetoric about human rights in the Holy Land.

Amid Gaza’s ongoing humanitarian crisis, the Italian bishops’ conference and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced on Sep. 30 a joint initiative to build a hospital in the Gaza territory, where more than 80% of medical facilities have been damaged or destroyed.

“There is a very serious health problem, and we want to address it with the patriarchate: it is a concrete commitment that will mobilize a lot of energy,” Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi, secretary general of the Italian bishops’ conference, said in a statement announcing the project during a visit to the Holy Land.

“We would like to express our sincere gratitude for this. We know that these visits are not to be taken for granted, and we know, as we have said in recent days, that all this is true and heartfelt,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem told Baturi during the announcement.

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Vincenzo Corrado, director of the communications for the Italian bishops’ conference, told The Pillar that the idea came from the need for stable healthcare in Gaza.

“The Italian Church, in agreement and collaboration with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, made itself available to try to provide a response. This commitment, like the numerous projects we have carried out in the Holy Land over the years, is a gesture of closeness and proximity to the local population and communities.”

“We are convinced that faith, denunciation [of human rights abuses], and hope also require concrete help,” he added.

While the project is still in very early stages and the inauguration date is unclear, Corrado told The Pillar that the bishops are working with the patriarchate in the “design and implementation phases of the project.”

“Our goal is to stand alongside the Church of the Holy Land and the community of Gaza in a friendship of faith and action,” he added.

Security is a major concern for such an initiative, considering that over half of Gaza hospitals have been rendered non-functional due to bombings and attacks, and that the sole Catholic parish in Gaza was struck by a tank, killing three people in July.

“There have been, there are, and there will be important and necessary discussions. In this, the presence of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem is a point of balance and guarantee. The prospects opened up by the peace agreement give us hope,” Corrado told The Pillar.

Pizzaballa showed his gratitude to the Italian bishops for the initiative, saying this week that “hope needs gestures, words, but above all a context in which bonds are forged, where unity and community are built. In situations of great pain and suffering, it is necessary to have someone by your side who supports and helps you. In this sense, all this becomes a sign of hope.”

Along with the hospital, the Italian bishops committed themselves to supporting priests and families in the region, by collaborating with food, work, housing, and educational initiatives.

Baturi also announced a future pilgrimage of the Italian bishops to the Holy Land as a “concrete form of closeness and solidarity.”

“We want to share in faith the hope for a better world, but also our outrage at unjust violence that tramples on human dignity… unjust violence must stop, hostages must be freed, and attacks against a people who shouldn’t be punished in this way must cease,” he added.

Gaza is undergoing a humanitarian crisis since the eruption of the war between Israel and Hamas two years ago. Ninety percent of the territory’s 2.1 million inhabitants have been displaced, with most of the population suffering from food shortages, and international organizations warning of the possibility of a famine.

More than 80% of the territory’s healthcare facilities have been damaged or destroyed during the war.

Since his May election, Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly spoken out about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, describing humanitarian conditions in Gaza as “unacceptable.”

Hamas and Israel agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire on Oct. 10. However, international watchers consider that the agreement hangs by a thread, after both Hamas and Israel have repeatedly broken the ceasefire, with Hamas firing anti-tank missiles at IDF soldiers and Israel conducting airstrikes in Gaza, which resulted in 23 Palestinians killed on Oct. 19.

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