Leonardo Sandri

We all remember the journey towards the Great Jubilee of 2000, dedicated to the fundamental stages of the history of salvation and the Trinitarian mystery, with the Year of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and then that pilgrimage to Iraq in the footsteps of Abraham, which was the first of all those that would follow later. We recall that among the pilgrimages linked to the Jubilee event there were also those linked to the figure of the Apostle Paul, which took John Paul II to Syria and also to Greece and Malta. However, his having to give up the journey to Iraq was certainly something that caused him great suffering. However, deep down we can say that his acceptance of that cancellation was already an interior pilgrimage. At Ur, in Iraq, Abraham was called to leave his land and his certainties, and was even asked to be willing to sacrifice his son for the covenant with the Lord. Saint John Paul II, who so wanted to visit that land, lived deep down Abraham’s same feelings in giving up this pilgrimage and in the sacrifice of having to accept that situation.

Journalist: Christians in the Holy Land are committed to justice and peace through evangelical non-violence. What are the main obstacles they encounter in this process? Cardinal Sandri: Perhaps they are tempted to lose the virtue of patience. The certainties of faith are severely tested by the time it takes for divine promises to be fulfilled. Then there is the temptation to forget what the Lord clearly said: ‘My ways are not your ways!’. Our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land are waiting to be comforted by God's fatherly hand in their trials, and perhaps the wait may seem fruitless. Good Friday is their day because on that day Christ's patience reaches its peak and merges with the infinite love that washes away sins and gathers all innocent tears in the redemption of the Cross. Perhaps they find it hard to believe that God's way is victorious, the way of meek steadfastness, which never, ever claims the right to shed blood, not even that of the enemy. The Cross we adore on Good Friday assures us that the Gospel is the most fruitful path to life and justice. Even from a human point of view, we must recognise that only by breaking the cycle of violence can we finally usher in lasting peace.

Cardinal Sandri: At one point, John Paul II was unable to speak because he had undergone a tracheotomy. A speech therapist was called in to help the Pontiff practise, as he had to learn how to use his voice and articulate words again. Journalist: The image of John Paul II trying to speak at the Angelus on 30 March 2005 and not being able to do so remains etched in the collective memory... Cardinal Sandri: He had done his exercises, rehearsed the text, and when he appeared at the window, perhaps due to emotion, his voice failed him, and this caused him great suffering. But all this was ultimately the result of Parkinson's, a degenerative disease that had made it increasingly difficult for him to speak and could only get worse.

Interviewer: What is involved in assisting the local realities of the Churches outside of the places in which they originated? Cardinal Sandri: It is a feature of the care for the Oriental Churches expressed by the Popes who, however, no longer exercized the role as Prefect of the Congregation, continue to exercise their special care for the Eastern faithful through the Dicastery. The very fact that in predominantly Latin territories - as for example in Europe and the United States - Popes have chosen to institute eparchies or exarchates for the care of the Eastern Catholic faithful speaks of the importance and profound respect for their identity and tradition. Where they go in the world creating structured communities of a certain size, the Apostolic See recognizes the possibility of continuing to govern themselves according to their own tradition, their liturgical, disciplinary, spiritual distinctiveness, providing for the appointment of Bishops and the foundation of eparchies and provinces so that they can continue to live their belonging to the Lord in the Catholic Church through that unique expression of their Church of origin.

Journalist: First of all, Your Eminence, which Saints do you have a devotion to? Cardinal Sandri: Obviously, my first devotion after Jesus Christ is His Mother, the Virgin Mary but I would like to answer this question because I was born in Argentina, and in Argentina we celebrate the birthday more than the name day, and my name of baptism is Leonardo.

We have no words. We don't have missiles, we don't have guns, we don't have tanks, we don't have the force of violence that wants to impose itself at any price. We have the strength of humility of those who receive the contempt of the world and of the powerful of the earth. Our only weapon - in the face of so much shame for humanity and so much suffering is what we have done today: to pray.