Four-day visit to southeast Michigan capped a giving campaign that exceeded $1.2M in Holy Land support in 2025
DETROIT — Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, expressed his gratitude for the generosity of the people of southeast Michigan for their support of the Church in the Holy Land, especially during the cardinal's pastoral visit to Detroit in December 2025.
In a recent letter to Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger, Cardinal Pizzaballa expressed his appreciation to Michigan's Latin-rite and Chaldean Catholic communities for raising $705,000 during his four-day visit, Dec. 4-7, 2025, to support the Christian community in Gaza and the West Bank.
“In the name of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and of all the beneficiaries, I express my heartfelt thanks to all those who contributed to your donation,” Cardinal Pizzaballa wrote to Archbishop Weisenburger. “This generous gift has provided much needed humanitarian support and solidarity to hundreds of families in the Holy Land and especially in Gaza.”
Noting the upcoming Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Jan. 25, Cardinal Pizzaballa likened the Archdiocese of Detroit’s support to the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles, who would support one another in building up the kingdom of God.
“During the recent visit to your Archdiocese, I witnessed that the same spirit of charity which the Apostle of the Gentiles asked for Jerusalem, remains alive in the Church to this day,” Cardinal Pizzaballa wrote. “Paul’s writings show that supporting the Church of Jerusalem through charity is an attested practice since the time of the Apostles. Communities of believers, such as the ones in Macedonia, supported believers in Jerusalem in the way they could: 'during a severe ordeal of affliction, abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity (2 Cor. 8:2).'”
Cardinal Pizzaballa visited southeast Michigan at the invitation of Archbishop Weisenburger to bear witness to the plight of the people of Gaza and the West Bank in the aftermath of a two-year war between Israel and Hamas.
During his four-day visit, the cardinal attended fundraising dinners hosted by the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle and the Archdiocese of Detroit, respectively, at the Shenandoah Country Club in West Bloomfield Township and St. John's Resort in Plymouth. He also celebrated Mass at St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Church in West Bloomfield and the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
During the fundraiser at St. John's Resort, Cardinal Pizzaballa and Archbishop Weisenburger participated in a "fireside chat" about the cardinal's life and ministry in the Holy Land, where he has served for more than three decades.
Cardinal Pizzaballa ended his time in southeast Michigan by celebrating Mass on Sunday, Dec. 7, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, where he thanked the Detroit faithful for the “spiritual closeness” they have shown to the Holy Land.
“The overflowing generosity of the people of Michigan has reached the faithful in the Holy Land through the four-day pastoral visit which you so kindly arranged on Dec. 4-7, 2025,” Cardinal Pizzaballa wrote. “The different events and celebrations made the visit (a) unique sign of a true seed of communion.
“Through worship and fellowship, the Lord strengthened the bonds between our particular churches,” the cardinal continued. “Even more, in the context of the visit, Eastern and Western traditions met in Detroit, as a sign of the overflowing love of the Church. The seed of charity, which is in Christian hearts by virtue of Baptismal grace, was empowered throughout the visit and bore its first fruits through your concrete sign of support for the Church in Jerusalem.”
The $705,000 raised during the cardinal’s visit came in addition to $501,524 raised during a special collection in August 2025, meaning the faithful have given more than $1.2 million to aid communities in the Holy Land.
Cardinal Pizzaballa concluded by specifically thanking all the communities he encountered during his time in Michigan and the countless faithful who lent their support.
“May the Blessed Virgin Mary continue to guide our hearts and minds to the love of the Triune God, in whose loving image we have been created. Fraternally in Christ, Pierbattista Cardinal Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem,” the letter concludes.
Since the Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the subsequent Israeli invasion and partial occupation of Gaza, Cardinal Pizzaballa has been steadfast in calling for prayers and support from the international community for an end to the violence and wanton destruction of Gaza and its people.
In an impact report published by Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which spiritually cares for all Latin Catholics in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Cyprus, the patriarchate said it had received $12.49 million in aid from the United States from the start of the war to October 2025.
This aid has benefited more than 200,000 people in the region, providing food relief, cash assistance, medical aid, education, job creation, housing support and support for migrants and the dispossessed.
The report cites mass displacement in Gaza City, with many of the city’s nearly 1 million residents living in tents or other forms of temporary shelters, and Holy Family Parish, the only Catholic parish in Gaza City, seeing a drop to only 650 Christian residents.
International donations are actively sustaining approximately 10% of northern Gaza’s population with essential necessities such as food, clean water and shelter, the report states.
In the report, published in November 2025, Cardinal Pizzaballa highlighted all the various ways the patriarchate is supporting the population in the West Bank and in Gaza through its emergency aid appeal.
“It is through your support that we are able to answer this call, serving Jesus Christ directly thorough our care for our suffering brothers and sisters,” Cardinal Pizzaballa wrote. “You are the key to this critical mission; we simply could not do this without you. Your continued partnership is both vital and deeply appreciated as we work to alleviate suffering and restore dignity.”
