On Wednesday, December 17,  Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa praised His Majesty King Abdullah II's leadership, his strenuous efforts to promote peace, as well as to protect the Christian Arab identity in Jordan and Palestine, while emphasizing that preserving the Christian Arab identity also means safeguarding the sublime diversity of the region.

This was reported during His Majesty the King’s annual meeting at Al Husseiniya Palace with the Heads of Churches and Islamic institutions marking the upcoming Christmas celebrations. Patriarch Pizzaballa also expressed his appreciation for the King’s 25-year endeavor to declare Christmas as a national holiday, as well as commended his unwavering commitment to humanitarian and diplomatic causes, particularly with regards to the protection of Jerusalem and the preservation of religious plurality.

Following is the text of the address:

Your Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein,

Your Royal Highness Crown Prince Al-Hussein Ibn Abdullah II,

I convey to you the greetings of the Latin Patriarchate, including its church communities as well as its educational and humanitarian institutions. Your Majesty, we highly appreciate this annual gathering, as we celebrate, this year, its silver jubilee at a time when for twenty-five years, you have maintained this noble tradition; from the very first Christmas celebrations, you declared it an official holiday during your esteemed reign. I, thus, extend to you our profound respect and gratitude.

Your Majesty, we highly value all your efforts to bring about a ceasefire and to complete the path to a just and comprehensive peace. It is a path that you advocate, and which your late father, King Hussein, may his soul rest in peace, had called for, at a time when peace remains elusive.

We rejoiced at the attainment of a ceasefire, which has allowed our people in Gaza to breathe a sigh of relief. There was a glimmer of hope, but as you know, matters have not been brought to fruition as a true peace remains elusive. We are working with Your Majesty to find a permanent, comprehensive, and transformative solution to the entire Palestinian question, not just for Gaza. God granted me the opportunity to visit Gaza three times last year, also with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, during the war, where I saw the fortitude of the priests and nuns, as well as the families who found refuge, warmth, and protection in the churches there, and who commend you for both your diplomatic efforts and your humanitarian efforts, as we do today.

From Gaza, I turn, with you, to Jerusalem, conveying the love of your Christian and Muslim brothers and sisters living there. As you know, this bright example of our extended family, which we witness daily in Jerusalem,  with its special and unique multireligious configuration, renews our patience and steadfastness, and gives us the strength to keep hoping for the future. Your Majesty, Jerusalem is the home to the monotheistic religions. and you are the one who since always is guarding and preserving this unique tapestry of diverse religious traditions and sites. Your care and devoted efforts not only preserve the holy stones but, more so, maintain the Christians in Jerusalem as part of its future. However, emigration and forcible displacement have severely impacted our community in Jerusalem, where a small number remains. We also suffer from a decline in pilgrims, who have not yet returned to the Holy Land with the same numbers as in the past.

We greatly commend all the appeals you have made over the past year, the latest when you received some days ago Christian leaders from the dear East. You consistently demonstrate this concern and this position, as you insist on the preservation of the Arab Christian identity. We, in turn, recognize that the preservation of the Christian Arab identity is essential for preserving the beautiful diversity and rich plurality of this beloved East.

As for the West Bank, the situation is not reassuring since it faces daily dangers, despite the people's determination to live and be free. Therefore, we plead with all those who strive for the attainment of peace, foremost of whom is Your Majesty, to turn their attention daily to the West Bank and the Palestinian people's needs in terms of protection, security, and stability, and to dedicate all available resources to serving these human brothers and sisters and their humanity.

Your Majesty, children and youth have the right to dream of a beautiful future. Everyday we receive complaints, not only from the Christian communities of West Bank, but from many different municipalities, about aggressions, attacks and harassments: from Taybeh and Aboud, near Ramallah, to Zababdeh and Jenin.  This behavior must stop so that the Palestinian people, both Christian and Muslim, can know peace and prosperity.

In our dear Jordan, the Church’s institutions continue their daily work, serving all groups of Jordanian society. These are religious and educational institutions, as well as those that provide humanitarian services by extending assistance to our forcibly displaced brothers and the refugees in Jordan, as well as to all Jordanians, both Christian and Muslim.

Your Majesty, we extend our solidarity to all people of goodwill, and we highly value your consistent efforts in this regard at the local, Arab, and international levels. To be sure, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV--whom you met a few months ago at the Vatican--has expressed the same sentiment you advocate, namely the two-state solution as the key to a just and durable peace. We hope that in the context of the preparation of the different coming Jubilees 2030 when we commemorate the 2,000^th anniversary of the Baptism of Christ, and in 2033 the 2,000^th anniversary of the Resurrection, we could see the presence and the coming of the Churches from all the world to Jordan, and that the we could enjoy of a Pope’s visit.

This will inspire us to work together to revitalize religious tourism in Jordan and Palestine. Prior to that, we will seek to create an atmosphere of stability and peace so that pilgrims may come and receive the spiritual blessing that they desire during their holy pilgrimage to our beloved land.

Happy New Year! May 2026 bring blessings and prosperity to Jordan, to Your Majesty, to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, to the youth of Jordan and Palestine, and indeed to the entire world. Amen.