His Holiness Pope Francis and President Abbas: Men of Peace

I had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis twice in a few days.

Meeting and listening to Him is always a blessing and a reason for spiritual growth.

On Thursday, December 12, I was part of the delegation that accompanied Palestinian President Abu Mazen to his meeting with His Holiness Pope Francis.

It was like a meeting between two elderly men who understand and support each other. Two men who look into each other’s eyes and hearts and seek and build peace through truth and justice. Pope Francis is not silent, and he is not afraid to courageously affirm the power of truth and justice.

President Abu Mazen, like a wise and loving father, tries to support the children of Palestine and keep them united. He suffers with them and for them in the pursuit of the right to peace that seems so difficult to obtain. The Holy Father does not judge people according to the color of their skin, their place of birth or their religion. Pope Francis welcomes everyone: victims and persecutors, innocents and sinners, and asks us to forgive like Jesus who, before giving up his spirit, forgave and asked forgiveness for those who crucified him.

Two men, who seem to belong to two different worlds, but have the same heart and the same vision.

The Holy Father asks for peace, he did so also on the day before the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in front of the scene of the Nativity scene, which was given as a gift from the city of Bethlehem.

About 800 years ago, Saint Francis of Assisi wanted to represent the Nativity scene in the Italian city of Greccio: this was the first depiction of the coming of the Savior on earth, the living God.

In the Nativity scene, which was made by craftsmen from Bethlehem and donated to Pope Francis, and at the initiative of the Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs and the Embassy of Palestine to the Holy See, the Chairman of the Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs, Dr. Ramzi Khoury, always seeks to take the initiative in everything that would convey the voice and message, the suffering and pain of the people and the Embassy of Palestine to the Holy See, the land of love and peace, Palestine, to the world through spiritual and political leaders, and with coordination and follow-up from the Embassy of Palestine to the Holy See, represented by Ambassador Issa Qassisieh, who in turn worked day and night to bring out this initiative in the most beautiful way.

Craftsmen from Bethlehem transformed olive wood into statues of the Holy Family, seashells into stars, wool into sheep, and the fabric and distinctive colors of the keffiyeh into the warmth that should envelop all the children of the world represented by the Child Jesus. This piece of cloth protected the Holy Child from the cold of the cave and from the indifference of those who did not receive him and did not want to understand his message, a message of love and peace.

The keffiyeh fabric is decorated with olive leaf motifs that express the value of the Palestinian land and the strength of its people, and fishing net motifs because the Mediterranean Sea was a great resource for Palestine. This is expressed by the texture of waves and lines that symbolize contact with other countries and exchanges between neighboring and different peoples.

There is no higher goal than working for peace, and whenever we try to save children and save their future and the future of humanity, our work is for peace and peace only.

We work for peace so that we do not forget or erase the memory of 20,000 children who lost one or more limbs, and who, if they survive, will bear indelible marks on their bodies for life.

We work for peace by taking the example of two men of peace who, despite the weight of the years and their own experience, never lose hope in the possibility of seeing humanity united and free from wars.

Meanwhile, in Gaza and around the world, children continue to die and suffer, like the peers of the baby Jesus, who suffered and died, because the power of King Herod feared the humility of a child born in a cave.

The men of peace demand protection for children who are not protected and who have been deprived of their rights and vital needs. Children who have no voice and no ability to cry out and expose the defeat, shame and scandal of war.

The Holy Father does it for all of them: “Enough war! Enough violence!” Enough cheap dealings with precious lives and sublime values.