Following is the text of the message issued by  Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa on March 29, 2023 thanking the faithful and people of good will of the Diocese of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem for the generous and compassionate response to the appeal for those affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria:

To the faithful and people of good will of the Diocese of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem:

“As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body,
though many, are one body, so also Christ. […]
 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it”
(1 Cor. 12:12.26a)

Dear brothers and sisters,

I would like to sincerely thank everyone for the generous and compassionate response to the appeal for those affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

I express gratitude especially to all the parishes of the Diocese, as well as many religious communities, families, individual donors, priests of the Latin Patriarchate who donated part of their salaries and to our friends from other Dioceses, parishes, communities and people from different parts of the world who have joined our appeal.

The amount collected to date is US $260,994.10.

Some parishes, schools and religious communities in the Holy Land have been particularly generous. We will immediately communicate with the Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo and the Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia to send what we have received. Without neglecting the needs of the Vicariate of Anatolia, and following the request of several communities, most of the offerings will be sent to the Christian communities in Syria, stricken by many years of suffering.

As Holy Week approaches, I wish everyone a peaceful journey of preparation for Easter.

 †Pierbattista Pizzaballa
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem