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A church of the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Tyre, Lebanon, has been hit by a missile from Israeli airstrikes in the country’s south, killing at least eight people.
“May each of us with the rosary or in whatever form he or she sees fit ... find a moment to pause and pray,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa wrote.
For 2,000 years, since Jesus descended into the waters of the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist, the river has been a pilgrimage site for Christians from around the world. And on the banks of that river, for the past 24 years, on the second Friday of January, the Catholic community in the region has undertaken a pilgrimage, gathering around its patriarch, to celebrate the baptism of Jesus.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, urged the faithful "to cherish the desire for encounter, to cultivate freedom in relation to all, to overcome ethnic, religious, and identity boundaries."
The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, presided over midnight Mass for Christmas at the Church of St. Catherine in Bethlehem, addressing the impact of the Israel-Hamas war on Gazans and sharing the news that on Christmas Eve the local Church was able to deliver supplies to the people taking refuge at Holy Family Parish in Gaza.