Rome, 30 June (LaPresse) – “Gaza is a disaster.” These were the words of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, as he accepted the Limes Prize for Dialogue and Peace yesterday. As reported by Vatican media, the cardinal emphasised: “The cities have been razed to the ground, levelled, wiped out. Rafah no longer exists. What strikes me most is travelling along makeshift roads, amidst tents and sewers. This is where the people of Gaza live. One aspect that the images do not convey is the smells. And one of the most pervasive scourges at the moment is the rats, which bite. They bite children in particular, and Gaza is full of children; you see them everywhere, but instead of going to school, they are playing, filthy, beside the sewers.” “What is needed immediately, the healthcare workers told me, is staff trained to deal with the psychological trauma suffered by children and mothers. This is an issue that must be addressed with the necessary sensitivity. I’ll put it rather bluntly, but I feel a great sense of sorrow; I simply cannot comprehend it,” Pizzaballa added.
Pizzaballa: “Gaza is a disaster; children bitten by rats”
Rome, 30 June (LaPresse) – “Gaza is a disaster.” These were the words of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, as he accepted the Limes Prize for Dialogue and Peace yesterday. As reported by Vatican media, the cardinal emphasised: “The cities have been razed to the ground, levelled, wiped out. Rafah no longer exists. What strikes me most is travelling along makeshift roads, amidst tents and sewers. This is where the people of Gaza live. One aspect that the images do not convey is the smells. And one of the most pervasive scourges at the moment is the rats, which bite. They bite children in particular, and Gaza is full of children; you see them everywhere, but instead of going to school, they are playing, filthy, beside the sewers.” “What is needed immediately, the healthcare workers told me, is staff trained to deal with the psychological trauma suffered by children and mothers. This is an issue that must be addressed with the necessary sensitivity. I’ll put it rather bluntly, but I feel a great sense of sorrow; I simply cannot comprehend it,” Pizzaballa added.
