Patriarch celebrates Mass, shares firsthand experiences with local Chaldean community on first day of Metro Detroit pastoral visit
WEST BLOOMFIELD — The Chaldean community in Metro Detroit joined with others from southeast Michigan as Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, celebrated Mass at St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Church in West Bloomfield.
Cardinal Pizzaballa joined Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger, Chaldean Bishop Francis Y. Kalabat and others Dec. 4, the first day of a four-day pastoral visit to Detroit, offering a somber, yet hopeful message, encouraging prayers and solidarity with suffering communities in the Holy Land.
In his homily, Cardinal Pizzaballa drew parallels between the biblical prophet Isaiah's vision of rebuilding amidst destruction and the current devastation and humanitarian crisis in the Middle East, emphasizing the Church's role in encouraging and promoting peace and stability.
"Hope cannot stand alone. Hope needs faith," the patriarch said. "I've been to Gaza several times during the war, and everything is a long desert full of ruins. Everything is destroyed, not only the infrastructure. Human devastation is enormous everywhere. Without faith, everything seems hopeless, without a future. But in the faith, we have a different view."
Cardinal Pizzaballa noted that in the week leading up to his visit to Detroit, he was in Lebanon with Pope Leo XIV and Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako, the Chaldean Catholic prelate who has served as Patriarch of Baghdad, together with all the patriarchs of the Middle East.
“We had a beautiful exchange and sharing of all our experiences, troubles and also expectations,” Cardinal Pizzaballa said, adding his hope that one day the pope might visit the Holy Land when conditions allow.
After Mass, hundreds gathered for a fundraising dinner at Shenandoah Country Club in West Bloomfield to support Christians in the Middle East, uniting the local Church with the Church in the Holy Land in prayer, generosity, and solidarity.
The community came together to honor Cardinal Pizzaballa and show support for the Church of Jerusalem, reaching out to those who continue their faith in the land where Christ was born, suffered, and rose again.
Before addressing those gathered, Cardinal Pizzaballa received the relics of four Chaldean martyrs killed in 2007 from Bishop Kalabat of the Chaldean Catholic Diocese of St. Thomas the Apostle.
“We offer you our sacrifice in connection with yours,” said Bishop Kalabat, adding Pope Leo had offered his prayers for the martyrs.
Over the course of the evening, at least $200,000 was raised to help support Christians in the Holy Land, Fr. Marcus Shammami, the evening’s master of ceremonies, announced.
“We are here to support the Christians of the Holy Land, those who need it the most, those who are the guardians of the places where Jesus walked, where he taught, where he suffered, died and rose," Fr. Shammami said. "Their presence is not only a living link to the earliest days of our faith, but also a sign of hope in a region that has known centuries of conflict, centuries of war, centuries of hardship.”
The suffering endured by members of the Chaldean community from Iraq united them with the suffering of Christians in Palestine, Fr. Shammami added.
Since arriving in Jerusalem, Cardinal Pizzaballa said he has witnessed countless wars in the region and the devastation they have wrought. However, he said, the two years of devastation in the Holy Land that began on Oct. 7, 2023, have been “the toughest of all.”
“Talking with the people there, it has been the most difficult moment in decades, if not generations,” Cardinal Pizzaballa said.
Cardinal Pizzaballa said the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, "is horrible" and "we have to say this very clearly: it is not acceptable at all." However, he added, "the retaliation, what happened after in Gaza was an even more difficult answer."
Over two years, Cardinal Pizzaballa said, 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza, and more than 80 percent of houses have been destroyed; there are no remaining schools or hospitals, nor water and electricity. Approximately 2 million people have been displaced, he added.
“No one, I repeat, no one in Gaza now is living where they were before the war. No one,” Cardinal Pizzaballa said. “Everyone is displaced somewhere else, and a lot of families are divided, lost, destroyed.”
While countless have died because of the fighting, many more have been killed because of a lack of medical assistance and aid, Cardinal Pizzaballa added. Despite the ceasefire, uncertainty and devastation persist, and many are in despair.
"It is true that we now have a ceasefire, but people are still dying there, and everything is still exactly as it was before the ceasefire," Cardinal Pizzaballa said. "There are still a lot of bodies under the rubble. No one is able to rescue the bodies to bury them, because there are no materials."
Cardinal Pizzaballa added "we are not against Israel," but that the Church must continue to speak clearly against the horrors that continue to take place in Gaza.
"We have to be very clear about what the Israeli government is doing, which is unacceptable, unjustifiable, and should be stopped," Cardinal Pizzaballa said, adding, "The situation will never change as long as the Palestinians are not recognized as people with their dignity and a right of self-determination."
He added that although Hamas' military branch "is almost dismantled," the lack of structure in Gaza has brought clashes among various factions, leaving the situation on the ground "more and more complicated."
The situation for Christians in the Holy Land is even more bleak, he said. Before the war, there were only about 1,000 Christians living in Gaza; today, that number is 541, he said. Many were able to flee to Egypt, but "many others died" because of war, fires or a lack of food or medicine.
Though political and international institutions have failed to bring relief, Cardinal Pizzaballa said that "with a lot of difficulties," religious and community groups at the grassroots level have found ways to bring in food to support approximately 10,000 families.
"Teachers are looking for their students, almost to the point of despair," Cardinal Pizzaballa said. "Mothers are organizing themselves in coordination to take care of the children who remain, many without families, and there are thousands like this."
Even amidst the devastation, Cardinal Pizzaballa emphasized that hope could still be found with faith in Christ, among the individuals who have stepped up to give of themselves, both on the ground in Gaza and throughout the world.
“The human devastation is still there. It's not going to finish soon, but the hope is still there,” Cardinal Pizzaballa said. “The hope, first of all, is the risen Lord; from there, we receive the strength of our hope. And then we look for the presence of the risen Lord in the society. Israelis, Palestinians, Christians, Muslims and Jews — there are a lot of people ready to give their life for the other.
“When people are prepared to give their lives for others, where there's faith, there's also the root of hope," the patriarch added.
With the support of Christians in places like Detroit and around the world, the patriarchate hopes to support the rebuilding of "at least one school," Cardinal Pizzaballa said, as well as ongoing support for food, health care and basic necessities.
Cardinal Pizzaballa reminded those gathered that when people stand together, the suffering Church is never alone.
“Sooner or later, this situation will finish, and when it is finished, we will remember who was with us and who was not. And I am sure we want to be among those who were there with them — with the Palestinians, but also with Israelis, with everyone, with love, but also with the necessary truth," Cardinal Pizzaballa said at the conclusion of his remarks. "Because where the truth is, there, Jesus is present.”
Detroit Catholic editor-in-chief Michael Stechschulte and staff reporter Gabriella Patti contributed to this report.
