Cardinal Gugerotti: ‘The Pope in Gaza? It is in the depths of his heart’

Rome, 15 October (LaPresse) – ‘The Pope’s trip to Gaza? I believe it is deeply embedded in his heart, I know him well, the deep desire to be close’ to Gaza. So said Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for Oriental Churches, on the sidelines of the Silvestrini Award in Rome. Still on the subject of a possible trip by the Pope to Gaza, Gugerotti said he believes ‘it is certainly possible, but we must also bear in mind the very real difficulties of reaching Gaza. We need to see how the issue of internal security is resolved. It’s not that the Pope is particularly concerned about his own personal safety, but of course it makes no sense to endanger the safety of others: there are a number of practical issues that need to be resolved in some way.’