He has to demonstrate it as well. Father Sabbara helps oversee a bricks-and-mortar project that has given work to about 80 of his unemployed or underemployed male parishioners, financed by the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land. When a Review writer and photographer were in Bethlehem last month, men were repairing the parish cemetery, a place that offers a stirring view of the hills south of the town. When they were finished with that work, the next project was an expansion of St. Joseph Church in another part of Bethlehem. "As pastor, I have to give hope to the people," said Father Sabbara, a native of Jerusalem, a Franciscan priest for 12 years and pastor for the past two. "If the pastor loses hope, the people lose heart," he said. "I pray a lot. God will not leave us lonely," he added. Father Sabbara estimated that 70 percent of the Christian men in Bethlehem are unemployed. The Franciscan Foundation-sponsored repair project pays each participant the equivalent of about $20 per day. All participants must be married men, since keeping them employed is an important aspect of maintaining family stability, Father Sabbara said. Roman Catholics are given first priority, with members of other Christian denominations (Greek Orthodox and Armenian, for example) coming after that, he said. David Sabat, 37, a native of Bethlehem, is the foreman for the cemetery project. A former chemicals salesman, he lost his job because of the bad economy and changing conditions brought on by the "Intifada" uprising of Palestinian Muslims against the Israeli government. Like many Palestinian Christians, he was more comfortable speaking in Arabic but said he was most thankful for the work opportunity, as were a lot of the men he supervised. Father Sabbara said he checked back through records of 50 years ago and found that the number of families in his parish is about the same as then. But the percentage of Christians in Bethlehem has dropped to about 9 percent from about 70 percent a half-century ago. Still, there are enough Catholics for his church to offer four Masses on Sunday, three in Arabic and one in Latin, he said. Father Sabbara noted, however, that his church is doing many things to give hope to its Palestinian parishioners. The nearby Catholic Action Center that the parish operates, under the direction of Joseph Sara (pictured on the front page of today's newspaper standing with Father Sabbara) and the help of many volunteers, provides activities for youth. It has a movie theater and a large outdoor swimming pool. Workers at the center are developing a computer lab and language classes in English, Italian and French. "Many want to leave the country. We are doing our best to help them stay here with dignity," Father Sabbara said.
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BETHLEHEM - Father Amjab Sabbara, OFM, Catholic pastor of the Church of the Nativity, knows that he has to do more than talk of hope to his parishioners, some 1,200 Palestinian families.
