Cardinal Zuppi, echoing the Pope, wants every community including families and parishes to be a "home of peace". Will the Pope then want to be a liturgical peacemaker?
Zuppi: The Pope asks us to make every community a "home of peace"
The President of the Italian Episcopal Conference speaks to the Vatican media about Pope Leo XIV's invitation to develop a pastoral ministry for peace in all dioceses.
Following a meeting with the Russian ambassador to the Holy See, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi stopped by Vatican Radio to grant an interview on the topic of peace with the Vatican media. The conversation is based on the words Pope Leo XIV spoke on June 17, when he received the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), with which he sought to give a precise, dramatically and very timely indication regarding the times we are living in, asking all dioceses to develop a pastoral ministry for peace.
The Pope praised the initiative of the schools of peace, an experience that already exists in some dioceses, but he specified that it is an urgent matter for everyone. How have you interpreted these words from the Pope, and what do you plan to do concretely to put them into practice?
It is important—and I thank you—to find moments of exchange, to be able to discuss these issues that today are, I would say, decisive and dramatic; because we cannot limit ourselves to an academic debate on peace, which in the end would be a dialogue between those who are well off and discuss how to be better off. No, this is a tragic debate that confronts numerous wars, terrible violence, the logic of rearmament, that is, of fueling wars, the logic of thinking that weapons are the only way to avoid war or bring about peace. Therefore, I would say that the Pope's invitation clashes with a situation that only the irresponsible can consider sustainable. And sometimes it seems to me that there are irresponsible people, that there are those who, for example, always think everything will be fine, who don't face reality. Therefore, it would be irresponsible not to consider the problem of peace, while the Pope, as a responsible person, has asked us to make every community a "house of peace." He used this very concrete and very effective expression: house of peace. What, then, is the commitment? First of all, that of prayer. As the Permanent Council of the CEI on this point, we have pointed to the occasion of Pentecost and, from there, the need to also find other occasions to involve all our communities. Indeed, Pentecost is a time to gather together, all nations united by the spirit, the exact opposite of Babel, and we wanted this moment to become a great invocation for peace. Therefore, prayer, and then welcome and solidarity. In fact, welcoming is the antidote to violence, to war, and on the other hand, solidarity is essential to help those swept away by the storm of war. I give an example that has involved many Caritas organizations with great joy, both in those who are welcomed and those who welcome: the children who have come from Ukraine for a period of peace, a moment of peace far from war. And I think in particular of those who were welcomed and welcomed by the children of the Ragazzi della Santa Sede Estate in the Vatican, the beautiful initiative that has existed for years for the children of employees thanks to the work of Father Franco Fontana. It is no coincidence that Zelensky thanked the Pope for this welcome.
The parish as a home of peace that can also be a "school of peace": is education, therefore, the fundamental and unavoidable path to building peace?
This is undoubtedly a beautiful message of the Day of Peace: education as "the name of peace." Also because we must be careful; today, unfortunately, there is an education for war, which is that of violence, hatred, ignorance, prejudice... I think of the "keyboard lions." In my opinion, this is a form of literacy, of education for war. In fact, war is never something that comes suddenly, it's not a bolt of lightning. If it is a bolt of lightning, something that is born in an environment, this happens because that environment has already overheated, already electrified, and has not precisely had education for peace, which is exactly the opposite: raising awareness, creating bonds, respect, attention, networks of encounter. I think it's very important, for a house of peace, to do a little daily training to counteract the process that leads to the creation of "keyboard lions" and instead initiate opposing processes in schools, in extracurricular activities, in parishes. I think of the beautiful examples of so many extracurricular activities or so many Italian language schools. Many parishes, many communities, organize these schools because language is also the first way to make someone feel at home, to give them the key to the house.
Or I think of those children and young people who, paradoxically, are still considered foreigners when in reality they are our children's companions, and therefore it should be our natural task to help them, protect them, and help them recover where they have disadvantages, obviously due to the environmental situation of their families. I believe these signs I see in many places are the beginning of the "literacy" necessary to create schools of peace. They are realities that live and foster encounter, knowledge of what is happening, because in reality there is so much ignorance and, therefore, so much polarization. Therefore, we must promote education, knowledge, and, therefore, good information.
War is not a lightning bolt; it never begins with the pull of a trigger, but long before that. It begins in the heart of man, and it has to do precisely with the hatred that grows, that is fostered. In this sense, schools of peace open up the possibilities for dialogue, encounter, fraternity, mutual acceptance, and a lack of fear of others—in short, all the possible paths toward peace. Pope Leo XIV, when speaking of peace, entered into a realm that refers to the Church's social doctrine. Sometimes we hear criticism from those who argue that, instead of these issues, we should focus on proclaiming the Gospel, we should talk about God, as if addressing and engaging on these fronts would detract from the purity of faith and proclamation. I think of the commitment of the popes, of Pope Francis' encyclicals Laudato si' and Fratelli tutti, of the issue of the environment, which Pope Leo XIV has so forcefully reminded us of in these days, and which, instead, are considered "optional" aspects that the Church can address, but also not address. But doesn't this reduce faith to something incorporeal? Doesn't this elude the exquisitely evangelical root of this entire commitment?
The root is clear and lies in the fact that the Gospel enters history and does not remove us from it. What should the Church do? What does it do? It speaks of Christ; what has Pope Francis done? He has done nothing but speak of Christ; he said so from the beginning, in Evangelii Gaudium, where the first word indicates precisely the kerygma, the proclamation of Christ. And speaking of Christ means entering history because there is a very close link between evangelization and human promotion, between the Eucharistic table and the table of the poor, between preparing the Eucharistic table and preparing the tables of care for others. This union between love and truth, between evangelization and human promotion, can never be lacking. Sometimes human advancement comes first, and then you understand the Gospel. Other times, the Gospel comes first, and then you realize, you open your eyes, and you say to yourself: but I must love the least of these brothers and sisters, understand that Jesus is in them, it is them that I must visit, welcome, clothe, and I must try to remove the reason why they are like this, without clothes. Between these two actions, there is a profound unity. Sometimes the synchronicity is not perfect, and it is necessary to unite the two times, but the two times are like those of the heart, the two heartbeats, the systole and the extrasystole: they go together. Love and truth, evangelization and human advancement are the two times of the heart of the Church.
Let us return to the words of Pope Leo XIV about transforming parishes into houses of peace. Can this invitation also be an opportunity to reflect on the nature of the parish, its destiny, and the need for change that must also affect the parish?
Yes, without a doubt, and I think parishes are changing, especially in the north-central part of our country. Generally speaking, the singular parish is becoming almost a rarity, but they tend to be plural parishes, which also helps us grow in communion. There is no longer "my individual parish." The point is for the parish to truly be a home, and instead, we sometimes run the risk, we must admit, of parishes becoming anonymous places. The great challenge is to weave fraternity, build community, grow knowledge, and the capacity for relationship. How many times have we insisted on the theme of relationship, which, however, does not coincide with self-help groups, is not just about hanging out, is not a condominium, but precisely a home—I deliberately use an expression that was very dear to Pope Francis: a home where everyone can feel at home. I think this is the great challenge of all time, and today I would say even more so in a world that isolates us and pits us against each other. In Italy, one in three families consists of a single person, a figure that is increasing, while the low birth rate reduces the home to a studio apartment in most cases. The Church, then, should be a place where the table is always wide and where everyone, even those who are alone, can find the place where they discover that, in reality, they have many brothers and sisters.
Two months have passed since the election of Pope Leo, an election that has been somewhat surprising, even from a secular perspective. We must be honest and admit that there is something beyond human understanding and inexplicable. In fact, the question arises as to how it was possible for 133 people of different origins and languages, most of whom had never met each other, in less than 24 hours, to elect the Bishop of Rome with such a large majority. Starting from this historic fact, let us also talk about these first two months of the pontificate.
I too share this reflection, to put it jokingly: our algorithm is always the best, it is unmatched, the Spirit is the algorithm that summarises them all. Joking aside, I would say that, without a doubt, this election has been a source of great joy, that of being able to respond to the expectation in a very, very short time. These two months seem to me to have been marked by great meekness, great determination, and a desire to get back on track, as always happens with change. Tradition in the Church is something extraordinary, because it manages, as always, as it should, to transmit what it has, in continuity, but at the same time, obviously, also in the differences specific to each Pope. I would say that for each person, what applies to each of us also applies to each Pope. That is why it seems to me that these are truly important months, inscribed, among other things, within the events of the Holy Year, this time of intense moments of sharing, of encounter in which we are together even physically, resuming the journey together. In this context, we accompany Pope Leo with our friendship, with our prayer above all, and with obedience. Because when I say that everyone obeys the Pope, I am saying something true and important: Then there will be those who have a somewhat peculiar obedience, so to speak, who say, "Okay, but only to what I say." But that's not possible. The Pope must always be obeyed. Obey him and be with him, making him feel our closeness, I repeat, in this context of the Jubilee, to take advantage of the opportunity for us all to understand the beauty of our journey, of this Jubilee that prepares hope, that brings us hope. In a world like today's, I believe the Holy Year is truly a great opportunity, the Jubilee of Hope, to live with Pope Leo.
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