Church of the Baptism: For Card Parolin, violence must not determine the Mideast’s future
The Vatican Secretary of State, who presided over the consecration of the Latin Church at Al-Maghtas on behalf of Pope Francis, made a new appeal for a ceasefire, hostage release, and peace based on coexistence between peoples. For Card Pizzaballa, the new church is “a gift from the local Church” to pilgrims from all over the world. Priests and Sisters of the Incarnate Word will provide spiritual outreach at the site. Gaza’s parish priest belongs to the same institute.
Amman (AsiaNews) – Card Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, today addressed the Christian community of the Holy Land and Jordanian authorities during the consecration ceremony of the Church of the Baptism of Jesus, which he led as Pope Francis's legate to Al-Maghtas, the desert site on the banks of the Jordan River that an ancient Christian tradition identifies as Bethany beyond the Jordan where the Gospel of John places the Baptism of Jesus.
“From this place,” Card Parolin said, “the lowest point on earth, from this blessed land where we feel all the suffering of conflicts, inhumanity and sin, from this place where heaven opened, we ask heaven for the gift of peace, true peace that is born in hearts and spreads throughout the fabric of society.”
Franciscan Brother Michele Piccirillo, an archaeologist, discovered the site in the 1990s. Located near the Dead Sea, which is below sea level, it was inaccessible for a long time because of minefields placed along the border between Israel and Jordan after the 1967 War.
About 25 years ago, Jordan’s Catholic community was able to resume the tradition of pilgrimages to the site on the Jordan River to mark the feast day of the Baptism of Jesus.
More recently, Jordanian King Abdullah II donated land to each Christian denomination in the country to build its own church at Al-Maghtas.
During his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2009, Benedict XVI laid the first stone of the church of the Latin Patriarchate, which is now completed.
A few thousand Jordanian Christians attended today's ceremony along with the country’s authorities, who deeply believe in the message of peace of this holy place.
King Abdullah II was represented by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, who chairs the Baptism Site Commission, which is spending a lot of money on its enhancement.
While the day was given over to celebrations, no one could certainly forget the deep wounds opened by the wars in Gaza and elsewhere in the region.
“My presence here today, also by the will of the Pope, is intended to be a concrete sign of the closeness of the entire Church to the Christian communities in the Middle East,” said Card Parolin during his homily. “This presence has been exemplified in many ways in recent months, painful and war-filled months, especially through the words of Pope Francis.”
The Vatican Secretary of State noted in particular the message Francis sent to Catholics in the Middle East on 7 October 2024, exactly one year after the Hamas massacres that started the war, urging them to “be a seed of hope, a small seed, a seed surrounded by darkness, but a seed that bears fruit.”
“I would like to encourage everyone not to be overwhelmed by the grave difficulties of the present time, and to trust that God guides human history, however much it bears the scars of violence, sin and death,” said Card Parolin. “At a time in history when this region is experiencing serious upheaval, it is important that Christians also make their contribution to the building of a just and peaceful society.”
Turning his gaze to the other side of the Jordan, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, right across from Al-Maghtas where the river is little more than a trickle, the pope's envoy called again for “a ceasefire, the release of prisoners and hostages, the guarantee of human rights, and the opening of the hearts of the leaders of nations to the search for peace and coexistence among peoples. It must not be violence that determines our future!”
“For fifteen years we have been waiting for this outstanding and beautiful event,” said Card Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, in his greeting address. “[T]his church is first and foremost at the service of all the community, namely that of the faithful living in the Holy Land,” he explained,
But “Its doors are also open to all the dear pilgrims whom we invite to visit Jordan and to those who have already visited and wish to return. It is therefore a gift from the local Church to all dear friends everywhere who come to be blessed by the waters of the River Jordan and make a pilgrimage to this Church.”
Precisely for this reason, the patriarch thanked the Institute of the Incarnate Word, the Argentine missionary congregation, for the role it has played for many years in the life of various communities in the Holy Land, including Gaza’s Parish of the Holy Family. With its priests and nuns, the institute will also offer spiritual services at Al-Maghtas.
“We encourage [pilgrims] to make a spiritual retreat in this holy place and spend time in the ‘desert of John the Baptist’,” the patriarch added.
Photo: Abouna.org
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