New cardinal of Palestinian descent says Gaza “Borders on horror”

“It Is right to talk about the genocide in Gaza, the Pope did well” – Cardinal Fernando Garib

By Franca Giansoldati (Il Messagero)

Fernando Chomalì Garìb, 67, archbishop of Santiago, Chile, elevated to cardinal by Pope Francis in the 2024 consistory on December 7

Among the 21 new cardinals elevated by Pope Francis in the 2024 consistory December 7, Fernando Chomalì Garib, 67, archbishop of Santiago, Chile, is the only one of Palestinian origin. A moral theologian and former civil engineer, he always reiterates that the balance of the rest of the world will depend on the balance that is reached in the Holy Land. It is an issue that he has been following personally for some time and makes him very sensitive to what is happening in the Gaza Strip.

Franca Giansoldati: Do you, along with the Pope, suspect that a genocide is underway in Gaza?

CARDINAL GARIB: It is objectively an absolutely crazy situation. There are now 42,000 people dead due to bombings that should stop, and the Pope has rightly reflected on the opportunity for an investigation to be carried out in this sense by the international community.

War is something that should not have happened, just as what Hamas did on October 7 should not have happened. It should not have happened. In the same way, there should not have been [such] a reaction from the Israeli government; everything has become absolutely inhuman — a situation that borders on horror and that must stop as soon as possible. And I myself have made myself available.

In what sense?

As a cardinal and as a descendant of a Palestinian family, I repeat that if I can do something to end the war, I am ready to do it. It is my duty, just as the Pope is also doing in launching continuous appeals for peace, because [what is happening] is truly a defeat for everyone.

Do you see a solution?

Today there is no other way than to try as soon as possible to have the conditions for two independent states, with absolutely secure borders for both, so that the populations can develop. This would be the most reasonable thing. After all, there are UN Resolutions that must be implemented. I think that if the Church were to build a bridge between all these factions dominated by ideology and fanaticism, it could facilitate dialogue. And it would be a good thing. If necessary, I repeat, I am ready and available.

You spoke of 42,000 deaths in Gaza, citing Hamas data that the UN has since refuted. The UN has attested to a lower figure, around 8,000…

Look, just one death would be enough. It’s not an issue of numbers to say no to war and to repeat that life is sacred for Jews, Christians and Muslims. Life is a treasure to be protected. What the Pope said about the international investigation, the famous phrase in the book, I agree with. I think the same way. Regardless of the denomination, genocide — from what is being seen in Gaza — is something whose contours are, objectively, unimaginable.

Pope Francis has been criticized for being anti-Semitic…

(laughs) It’s ridiculous, his personal history goes in a very different direction even when he was in Argentina. He only said what he thinks in the face of so much, too much, suffering. He is a profoundly human person, full of empathy and humanity.

Bergoglio is often questioned…

Only in half a century will we better understand what he has done.

He has understood in a very particular way, and focused on with precision, the culture in which we live and are inserted. The economy that kills, for example; the selfishness, the indifference; the exponential growth of those who remain outside the welfare system (and not only in developing countries).

Now this dynamic also concerns the West. He is a courageous man. He set in motion reforms and movements because things could no longer continue as they were before. Just think of the issue of migratory flows.

It is impossible to go back because in ten years they will be part of everyday life — multiplied by a thousand.