Many people who have been on pilgrimage to the Holy Land have told me that it makes the Scriptures come alive. I couldn’t have begun to imagine how true that really was until I was standing in the Garden of Gethsemane- at night.

Standing there amidst the ancient, gnarled olive trees, beneath a crystal-clear sky complete with a full moon, we read from the Gospel of Mark. “And they went to a place which was called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I pray.’” (14:32) One cannot begin to comprehend how exhilarating that experience is until they’ve actually had it. Each of the pilgrims on the Tekton trip was quietly singing the Taize chant, “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.” Each also held a lit vigil candle. We left pauses for quiet meditation as we processed through the garden with the Blessed Sacrament. The priest held the monstrance high and we couldn’t believe that we were there, in the Garden of Gethsemane, at night, with a full moon, with Jesus! We were actually there with him!

Goosebumps are not an unusual experience on a pilgrimage, especially a Holy Land pilgrimage. Why not? Because each site brings the Scriptures to life. As my priest preached about one weekend, the Gospel is still relevant in our times. It becomes so even in a geographical way as pilgrims visit places like the Garden of Gethsemane, the Sea of Galilee, Bethlehem, Capernaum and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which happens to contain both the empty tomb and the crucifixion site.

Maybe a short story closer to home can better illustrate my point. I had a chance one day to visit the beautiful, gently-rolling countryside on Pennsylvania. Driving through this area one can barely believe that just before our country celebrated its 87^th birthday, the single, largest bloodbath of the Civil War took place amidst these hills, fields, woods and boulders. From July 1 to July 3, 1863, Union soldiers clashed with Confederate soldiers in what today still holds the tragic record in which more Americans died in a single battle than any other battle in all of United States history. Teachers had taught us about this sad battle. They showed us maps, pictures and statistics. But it wasn’t until I was standing there in Gettysburg, on the actual battlefield, that it all became so real. It came to life. In my mind’s eye I could see soldiers with long rifles hiding behind rocks, trees and among the fence rows. I could hear the screams of agony and the battle cries. I could hear the rifles and canons firing and the piercing sound of clanging swords. I know I have quite the imagination. But the point is, by being there, the history lessons came alive. By taking a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the same thing happens but this time it’s the Scriptures that come alive.

There, in the Garden of Gethsemane, at night, one can almost see Peter, James and John sleeping under an olive tree. In fact, I felt if I just listened closely enough, I could hear their snoring. Just a glance to the nearby Church of All Nations, the traditional site where Jesus had fallen on the ground to pray, makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up as you see how close he was to the apostles, and yet, experientially, how far he was from their tired sleep. One begins to think they hear distant voices that grow louder and begin to see the light of torches through the olive grove. Judas and the temple guards have just crossed the Kidron Valley. They are climbing the Mount of Olives to arrest Jesus. “So Judas, procuring a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.” (Jn 18:3) Do you see what I mean? It’s all there in the Scriptures. And it’s still there in the Holy Land, at least for now.

Wheels down in Jerusalem mid-morning. Our pilgrimage was on schedule. Customs wasn’t too bad and no luggage lost. Thank you God.

Now where was Father taking us? I had to go to the bathroom since before seeing land from 35,000 feet but the line was so long and I couldn’t figure out why. That was until I heard the heavy accented flight attendant inform us that since we were within a half-hour of landing we were no longer permitted by law to use the restroom. What?!? And now Father was rushing us from here to there telling us not to look anyone in the eye and not to even joke with words like “bomb” or “terrorist”. Understood. Seemed liked common sense to me but we all know for some people common sense isn’t so common.

“Upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, we will be met by our local guide who will escort us throughout our stay in the Holy Land and make the Scripture come alive as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Drive to our hotel in Jerusalem, home for the next six nights.” That was what our Tekton pilgrimage itinerary read under Day 2. We were now officially in the Holy Land. They should have put something in about “upon arrival at airport, all use the restroom.” I really had to go.

Anyway, off we went- headed through the Holy Land for the Holy City. Wanting to give us a breath-taking view of Jerusalem, our Franciscan guide instructed our Formula One bus driver to take the winding curves up to the Mount of Olives. From there we disembarked and made our way to the stone wall of the parking lot. There it was. The Dome, the walls, the ancient city. We Catholic pilgrims stood in awe. Were our eyes really beholding the same city Jesus beheld from the Mount of Olives on more than one occasion? Wait. Were we really on the Mount of Olives? Jesus went up to the Mount of Olives on his pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Jesus was here!

Fr. David had already begun pointing out different places in the city when I came to my senses. I felt like I could barely breathe because of the excitement I felt. I wanted to yell out to my fellow Christians, “I’m in the Holy Land! That’s Jerusalem over there!” I refrained… I’m sure they were glad I did. For all its zeal, it wouldn't have been one of my brighter moments.

Fr. David continued his explanations. “And if you look there, across the Kidron Valley, you’ll see the Valley of Gehenna. Jesus referred to the….”

I couldn’t take it anymore. “The Kidron what?!?” I exclaimed.

Patiently he replied, “The Kidron Valley.”

By Bishop James D. Conley
Southern Nebraska Register

I’m filled with wonder at times, when I think of the size of our Catholic Church, and the range of peoples and cultures it includes. And I’m even more awed by God’s work and providence, when I think about our humble roots in the town of Galilee.

Almost 20 centuries ago, eleven men heard Jesus’ words: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations." Today, every member of Christ’s Mystical Body shares a profound bond with 1.2 billion people worldwide.

Despite our differences, we are a giant extended family – joined by our common faith, baptism, and sacramental life.

Unfortunately, many of our brothers and sisters live in places where it is difficult, even dangerous, to believe in Jesus and belong to his Church.

Christians suffer for their faith in two-thirds of the world’s 193 countries. Commenting on this fact in a February 2013 article, the Jewish rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein noted that, "Christians have succeeded Jews as the numerically most persecuted people on the face of the earth."

Tragically, one of the most difficult places to be a Christian is that very place where the Church first began – the region we call the Holy Land.

The Holy Land is home to ancient Christian communities that existed long before the rise of Islam or the modern state of Israel. Many of these Christians are Roman Catholics, while others belong to the various Eastern Catholic traditions or the Eastern Orthodox churches. All are linked, spiritually and geographically, to the Church’s earliest days in Jerusalem.

Today, Christians in the Holy Land are caught in the middle of long-standing political and religious conflicts. Palestinian Christians face restrictions on commerce and travel, as well as anti-Christian attitudes and poorly functional government.

As a result, many of Christ’s faithful are leaving the region – permanently. Their reasons for emigrating are understandable, but the net effect is disastrous.

Approximately 150,000 Christians now live in the Holy Land. But this population is declining, with around 500 Christian families leaving the area annually.

At this rate, Church leaders fear that the Holy Land could lose its native Christian presence within decades. Jesus’ homeland would be reduced to a spiritual "tourist attraction": a place that foreign Christians visit, but where native-born faithful no longer live.

This tragic situation has parallels throughout the Middle East, where native Christians fear that they will be forgotten and abandoned by the Western world.

Sadly, this fear is a realistic one. Americans often travel to the Holy Land as pilgrims, without gaining a sense of what life is like for its Christian residents.

The same holds true for nearby countries like Egypt, Syria, and Iraq: before these countries were in the headlines, few Western Christians knew much about their ancient Catholic and Orthodox communities. Even today, we often fail to look beyond the occasional shocking news bulletin.

Our ignorance is doubly tragic due to the impact of our country’s actions on these endangered churches. U.S. foreign policy has direct effects – sometimes good, but often seriously harmful – on our Christian brothers and sisters in the region.

Persecuted and suffering Christians are often forgotten by the world. But the Church does not forget her children – in the Holy Land, the larger Middle East, or anywhere else. The Lord wants us to reach out, with action and prayer, to the suffering members of his Mystical Body.

I commend the Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher, of whom I am member, and other groups like them, who raise money and support for the education, development and economic growth of the Palestinian Christian community.

Closer to home, this coming Sunday, April 14, we have a chance to reach out to our fellow Christians in the Holy Land. On that afternoon there will be a series of Holy Hours hosted locally by the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land. In the presence of our Lord, we will pray for peace and the preservation of struggling Christian communities.

These Holy Hours for the Holy Land will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln, Saint Cecilia in Hastings, and Saints Peter and Paul Church in Falls City. A Holy Hour for the same intention will be held at Saint Patrick Parish in McCook, at 4:30 p.m.

If you can attend, I urge you to do so. The Gospel challenges us to live out our familial bonds with the global Church, in its joys and sorrows. This is part of being one body, as St. Paul reminds us: "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together."

Every Christian belongs to an enormous "extended family." And no member of that family should feel forgotten by his brethren.

Our circumstances are very different from those of the Christians in the Holy Land. Yet we are closer to them than we know, linked by graces that transcend all distances and differences.

This Sunday, we will come before the Lord who unites us, to pray for the faithful in the land where the Church began.

Jesus Christ cares deeply about his Church’s continued presence there – and so should we.

All these efforts are coming to fruition because of the many generous hearts of Catholics, mostly in the United States.

It is essential that Christians live in the Holy Land because for Christians – this is the holiest spot on earth. After all, Jesus chose the Holy Land as the place where He would redeem mankind.

Msgr. Joseph Schaedel took his first trip to this holy land in the summer of 2012. He relates that he was having second thoughts about going as the time approached but once he got there, he was amazed at how much of an impact it had on him. He said “to read in the Psalms about Israel and Jerusalem and then to pray through those Psalms – I thought – I’m right here.” He has scheduled to return with a group of his parishioners on a pilgrimage in October of 2013.

A pilgrim who was so moved by her experience in the Holy Land recounts, “You’ve heard about Christ, you’ve read about Christ and then you are right where He was. There is just no explaining how all this becomes a person you knew.” She relates how walking through the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, she was flooded with the happenings that actually took place in that very spot so many years ago and yet still have such significance to us all today. Upon walking through the entrance, there is the anointing stone. Going a little further are the steps up to Calvary and then the actual tomb where Jesus was laid and from where He rose. It is hard to take it all in.

Feeling so blessed to have the opportunity to experience all this, she was also struck with sadness that there may soon come a time when these sites become museums with no active Christians celebrating their faith in this holy land. There can be no “Holy Land” without a Christian Presence of Jesus’ followers there and so she wonders “Why are not all Catholics fighting tooth and nail to make this a hallowed, holy celebrated land?”

Why are Catholics here in the states not more concerned about what is happening to this Church that Christ established? Mainly, because the average person just doesn't know the struggles that our fellow Christians in the Holy Land face every day. They do not know until they go and see for themselves or until they hear from others who have been, or until we can get the truth out. If you would like to know more, please watch this video entitled “Legacy – The Work of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land. And while there, check out our website www.ffhl.org to see how you can help.

Walking down the Old City’s narrow, cobblestone “streets” was one thing; doing it at 4:00 AM was a whole other thing! To be honest, I was waiting for a scene from a blockbuster thriller to unfold right in front of me, one where a dark van with no windows comes racing up, skids to a stop and four hooded men jump out to grab us. (Irrational fear can lead to some very creative and unrealistic scenarios for me.) Nonetheless, I was glad we were a group of 12 that bravely ventured out that morning headed for the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

One of the Holy Land’s most visited Christian sites, the Holy Sepulcher was a definite highlight of our Tekton pilgrimage. Our guide, Fr. David, OFM, told us it would be wise to get there early so as to avoid the thousands of pilgrims that daily crowd the sacred Church. We were scheduled to arrive there as a group later that day but we eager, early-rising pilgrims wanted to be there a little after it was unlocked- at 4:00AM. The night before, we left our friends drinking wine under the Jerusalem stars a little early. We were scheduled for a full day of visiting the holy sites with our Franciscan guide. Making sure we were well-rested for our adventure the next morning was key. And let me tell you, walking the empty streets of Jerusalem at four in the morning is an adventure!

Miraculously we found our way there in the dark. As those of you who have been to the Holy Land know, it’s hard enough to find it in daylight. Nearing the wooden gate, two local religious sisters tucked in front of us. They wore dark clothes and long, black veils over their habit veils. Walking behind them through the courtyard brought me back 2000 years to those first pilgrims to Christ’s empty tomb… his mother and Mary Magdalene.

Next, as my anticipation grew and my heart began to thump against my chest, I thought of St. Francis who had made a pilgrimage to this very place. Then I thought of all the Franciscans who had faithfully kept custody of this spiritual place for so many centuries. I thought of all the Christians who year after year, decade after decade, century after century had made pilgrimage here to renew their faith, hope and love at the empty tomb. I couldn’t help but think about our little group, Catholic Christians stepping foot onto this holy ground like so many before us. What a sense of humility and gratitude!

As the aroma of the Holy Sepulcher warmly drew us in, a silence different from the one that filled the streets overcame us. It was the sacred silence of an empty tomb; Jesus’ empty tomb.

It has an ocean coast (Mediterranean Sea), a small river (Jordan River), rich agricultural land (coastal plain and the Jezreel Valley in Galilee) and semiarid expanses (southern regions around Beersheba known as the Negev).

The beauty of this landscape is celebrated in the psalms as testimony to the splendor of the creator.

The pilgrim to the Holy Land gathers a rich storehouse of images that will come to mind as he or she prays the psalms and reads other sections of Scripture. Even a brief visit to this land will stock the mind of the believer with pictures and information that will shape and nourish the way he or she reads the Bible thereafter.

The rainy season in Israel extends from November through March. With the onset of the dry season in April, the amount of green vegetation in the regions south and east of Jerusalem begins to diminish so that by August, Jerusalem belongs more to the desert region than to the sown land.

The herders of sheep and goats, like Abraham and Sarah, move their flocks out into the wilderness in November, and gradually move them back toward the sown land in may and the following months as the pasturage dictates.

Contemporary visitors frequently see herders tending their flocks of sheep and goats not only in the Negev, but also within the city limits of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is situated on mountain spur in the southern hill country about 40 miles east of the Mediterranean Sea. Two valleys make the south, east and west sides of this location difficult to access; therefore, it was ideal as a location for a defensible city.

David and his men conquered the city by ascending the water shaft above the Gihon spring, taking the Jebusite inhabitants by surprise (2 Sam 5:6-10). Prior to gaining control over Israel and Judah, David and his men moved among the ravines and caves of the Judean Desert south and east of Jerusalem. This region receives only a few inches of rain annually compared to the 25 inches that Jerusalem receives each year. The population was small and transient in biblical times; it was a place of refuge for those at odds with the authorities in Jerusalem.

The road leading into the Judean Desert ran by the Garden of Gethsemane and offered a ready-made escape route in the tense moments leading up to Jesus’ arrest (Mk 14:32-36; Lk 22:39-46). It was a route that, in following after his father’s will, he chose not to take.

Jericho lies about 10 miles east of Jerusalem, but it is about half a mile lower in elevation. It will snow in Jerusalem and in Bethlehem (which lies four miles south of Jerusalem), but in Jericho the temperature rarely dips below 50 degrees.

This route through Jericho and then north along the Jordan River was the usual route for Jesus and his disciples to take on their return to Galilee. The other route along the mountain ridges of the hill country would have taken them through the land of the Samaritans, a region which observant Galilean Jews typically avoided. (Jn 4:4-9).

Galilee, the region to the west and north of the Sea of Galilee, is a fertile region of valleys and gently rising hills that was important for both agriculture and as a part of the primary overland trade route linking Mesopotamia with Egypt.

The town of Megiddo at the western edge of the large Jezreel Valley was an important military outpost and location for collecting tolls from caravans. It is in this broad valley through which many nations passed where the battle at the end of the world is envisioned to occur in the Book of Revelation (RV 16:16). Armageddon is derived form “har megiddon,” “the mountain range of Megiddo.” The numerous villages around the 64-square-mile Sea of Galilee would have been supported both by the local agricultural economy and by fish. Southwest of the Sea of Galilee rises a very high hill known as Mount Tabor, which is the traditional location of Jesus’ transfiguration. From the Sea of Galilee, Mount Hermon on the Lebanon border is visible on a clear day.

The areas of Galilee and the Mediterranean coast were occupied by the Canaanites and the Philistines when Israel’s ancestors came into the land from Mesopotamia at the time of Abraham (circa 1800 B.C.) and from Egypt at the time of Moses (circa 1250 B.C.) Therefore, the Israelites settled in the central hill country to the north and south of Jerusalem.

The cities of Shechem, Samaria, Bethel and Hebron were located in this mountainours region that was conducive to terrace farming, vine growing and herding. East of these cities had an important sanctuary at which various Israelite tribes gathered on a regular basis. With the construction of the temple in Jerusalem at the time of Solomon (960-922 B.C.), Jerusalem gained importance as the most important religious center in the land.

Cradling Christianity Host Committee Members, pictured with Father Peter and Zaki Sahlia gather on the stairs of the Walter Commons with friends from a 2006 pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Those guests who have made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land were asked to stand and be recognized at this annual event. This year’s event drew nearly three hundred guests as well as contributions from supporters in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and Texas.

Father Earl Fernandes, STD, Dean of students at Mount St. Mary Seminary in Cincinnati, and Zaki Sahlia, a Palestinian Christian, educated by scholarship money provided by the FFHL, made presentations to the large crowd gathered in Walter Commons.

Zaki’s presentation can be accessed by clicking here!

The silent auction for this event was unique, with the majority of items produced in the Holy Land by Palestinian Christians. Icons, pottery, glassware, and Jerusalem crosses were featured.

Each dinner guest received a Cradling Christianity remembrance. Women received a bracelet made of olive wood beads with a Jerusalem cross, crucifix, and peace sign attached. Men received a Jerusalem cross lapel pin. Priests, deacons, and religious sisters received a rosary, which was blessed by Father Peter.

Committee members recognized at this year’s event were Judy & Gene Alfonsi (Gene, an FFHL board member), Jan & Foster Moffo (Silent Auction Sponsors), Norma & Wally Johanni (Event Treasurers) and Monica and Don Brown (Event Chairpersons).

Updates on future Cradling Christianity events can be found on Facebook Cradling Christianity, on FFHL.org, and by emailing figgiebrown@aol.com.

Rev. Mr. Ken Reisor, Master of Ceremonies, opened the event by welcoming everyone on behalf of the Honorary Chairpersons, Dr. Richard and Adelle Toussaint, Jr., Dinner Chairperson, Susan Stanzel, Co-Chairperson Shelley Stanzel and the Dallas-Fort Worth Host Committee. The Honored guests included Most Rev. Kevin W. Vann, Bishop of Fort Worth, Rev. Msgr. Robert L. Stern, Secretary General, Catholic Near East Welfare Association and Fr. Peter F. Vasko, OFM, President of FFHL.

Bishop Kevin W. Vann gave the Invocation. After the dinner, Fr. Peter recognized Dr. Richard F. Toussaint, Jr. for his extraordinary support and love of the Holy Land. Together with Ms. Denise M. Scalzo, Vice President of FFHL, Fr. Peter presented the “Outstanding Benefactor of the Holy Land” award to Dr. Toussaint.

The keynote speaker was Msgr. Robert L. Stern who has served since 1987 as Secretary General of Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) and as President of the Pontifical Mission for Palestine. Msgr. Stern spoke about “The Contribution of Christians in the Middle East.” In his remarks he stated “Christians are a declining minority in a Judeo-Muslim world. Even so, their churches serve not only their own faithful but also the larger community. However, their good work requires support from the larger Christian world. Middle East Christians can serve as a bridge to the future for the Muslim Arab world, bringing Christian inspired values such as separation of church and state, freedom of conscience and worship; and pluralism in society. But, they must be aware of clinging too much to a ‘Western’ identity. Many Middle East Christians are emigrating. The challenge to us is to continue to help those who remain in their homeland and to be concerned with justice and peace there.

Members of the Dallas-Fort Worth Host Committee include Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Dickerson of Fort Worth, Mr. and Mrs. Joe C. Thompson, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Paul H. Stanzel and Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Stanzel of Dallas. Committee members were Colleen Baillargeon, Al Brezna, Nancy Cheney, Susan Collis, Pamela Field, Helen Graham, Bettina Hennessy, Rose Hoff, Theresa Martter, Adelle Toussaint and Rachel Trowbridge. The dinner was graciously underwritten by Dr. and Mrs. Richard F. Toussaint, Jr. Additional underwriters for the event include Mr. Richard D. Kelly, Susan Murrin Pritchett of Fort Worth, Ellen Murray of New York, Hattie Poole of San Antonio, Dr. Jonathan Metzler, Mr. and Mrs. Frank X. Cuellar and the Honorable and Mrs. Will Hartnett all of Dallas.

The festive evening included exquisite music during the cocktail and dinner hour by harpist, Juliette Buchanan, as well as gifts of note cards depicting scenes of The Old City – Christians Quarters – Jerusalem – 1930’s for each attendee.

The evening closed with the Benediction given by Rev. Msgr. Donald F. Zimmerman, Pastor, Christ the King Catholic Church and 2006 recipient of the Pope Leo XIII Gold Cross of Honor Papal Award.

This program has been supported by many of the Catholic faithful in the Orlando region and headed up by Mrs. Faith Libbe, Regional Representative for FFHL. Each year Mrs. Libbe goes around the region raising funds for this wonderful event, an event which brings joy to so many children whose lives have been devoid of happiness due to difficult economic woes.

One can see by the photos, the joy on these children’s faces. If any of our readers are interested in helping out next year you may contact Mrs. Libbe at faithalibbe@gmail.com

The evening featured Middle Eastern cuisine and a silent auction. After dinner, Fr. Peter Vasko, OFM, gave a talk on the harsh realities Christians are facing in the Holy Land and the importance of helping them in their time of need. The FFHL's "Crisis in the Holy Land/Rebuilding the Body of Christ" DVD was viewed leaving time for questions and answers. At the conclusion of the evening, Fr. Peter thanked the Annunciation Holy Land Christians Support Ministry for hosting the event and presented its chairperson, Faith Libbe, with a silver Byzantine icon from the Holy Land.

His Excellency started his service in the Diplomatic Corps of the Holy See as Attaché in 1973 in Iraq and Kuwait. In 1976 he was transferred to the Apostolic Nunciature in Great Britain. From 1978 until 1989 he worked at the Secretariat of State of Vatican City. On April 4, 1989 he was nominated Special Envoy with the functions of Permanent Observer to the European Council in Strasbourg.

He was elected Archbishop on April 3, 1992. On April 26, 1992 he was consecrated and made Titular Archbishop of Ulpiana.

He was nominated Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Nigeria, on April 3, 1992. On April 4, 1998 he was nominated Delegate for the Pontifical Representations.

Archbishop Viganò served as Secretary General of the Governorate of the Vatican City State from July 16, 2009 until September 3, 2011.

On October 19, 2011 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.

FFC has also created programs for employment for the Bethlehem community as well as working with the marginalized Christian families to assist in upgrading their residences. The principal funding for the FFC comes from the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land.

We strive to promote not only the development of strong family ties through mutual respect and support, but to restore and raise the dignity of families and individuals from both a spiritual and material perspective.

Our mission is to serve the community through education, faith sharing, building awareness and concern for each other through numerous programs offered by the Franciscan Family Center. We are here to uplift and restore dignity to the Christians of Bethlehem.

Traveling outside Bethlehem is becoming increasingly problematic.  Restricted movement is adding to the suffering of those that need to travel to work in Jerusalem and its surroundings. Such conditions are causing further loss of jobs outside Bethlehem, while work opportunities in Bethlehem remain limited.  Nevertheless, God’s grace shines over our big project:  The ‘Job Creation-House Renovation Project.’    Through it, many a young, married bread-winner has been kept employed in order to sustain his family.  This would not have been possible unless it was for the generosity of our beloved benefactors.

 In 2009 alone, this project provided for the renovation of 38 different houses.  Throughout its 6 years of existence, this project funded the renovation of 276 separate houses.  In human terms, it translates into providing 276 families with the essential dignity of being able to earn a living through work.  At present, we have 90 pending applications.  As a rule, the Center seeks to prioritize with families most urgently in need, in particular those who live in paltry and restricted spaces, including having to live and sleep all in one room, denied even a separate bathroom or kitchen.

 In recent years, the Franciscan Family Center (FFC) established a ‘Child Sponsorship Program’ thanks to the “Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land” (FFHL).  This is necessary as many families are no longer able to pay for their children’s tuition at Christian schools.  As a result of acute unemployment during the last few years, their limited incomes could only address the need for bare everyday essentials.

Our Christian schools acquaint students with the values of family life and those of a sharing society.  Each school attempts to meet the needs of all those who are deprived physically, morally or economically.  Our curriculum prepares students to make the right choices towards peace, solidarity and development as well as honing the skills necessary for the work place including respect towards ethical and moral foundations.

 Religious education remains one of the priorities of the Christians living in the Holy Land.  The Program seeks to encourage benefactors to assist with the cost of tuition.  At present, we already help 70 boys and girls coming from low income families.  The Program strives to do this with the knowledge that the only alternative is that our children would are forced to attend government schools that follow a completely Muslim curriculum.  We do not wish to see financial deprivation forcing our students to receive a curriculum that goes against their religious culture.

 Meanwhile, the Franciscan Family Center is still providing counseling services on a daily basis for those looking for refuge and respite.  Also the Women’s Meeting has assumed wider dimensions.  The Marriage Preparation service is becoming increasingly in demand with the result that, like last year, the course had to be organized twice owing to the ever increasing demand of interested couples wanting to attend.

Dear friends, I cannot but reiterate my sincere appreciation and gratitude to all of you who support the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land which in turn assists the many needs of the Franciscan Family Center.  Your kind support has been crucial and rewarding.  It has touched the lives of so many families and has contributed immeasurably to their well-being and happiness.                                  Sr. Maria Grech FMM

For the past ten years FFHL has been providing musical scholarships to our young Christians attending the Magnificat Institute, a humanitarian arm of the Franciscan Custody.

Needless to say, music is the art that unites, brings us together, overcomes differences, and challenges standard ways of thinking, even those most common in the Holy Land. The Magnificat Institute of Jerusalem was founded in 1995, thanks to the work of musician and composer, Fr. Armando Pierucci. Currently, the Magnificat Institute in the Holy City of Jerusalem counts among its ranks 200 Muslim, Christian, and Jewish students, mainly children, who are studying various disciplines. The musical activities outside of school provide great opportunities and hope for the children throughout the Holy Land and for their families. The Institute has over 20 teachers and three choirs, who also fulfill the liturgical requirements of the Custody of the Holy Land for the most important celebrations and it is currently housed in the complex of St. Saviour in Jerusalem. The school also has to its credit publications, recordings of musical CDs, foreign tours, concerts and the organization of competitions.

The main objective of the project Music and Life in Jerusalem is to sustain the activities of the Magnificat Institute in Jerusalem whose primary goal is to foster encounter, dialogue, peaceful coexistence, and human and social development amongst people and children of diverse cultural and religious backgrounds in the Holy Land. Learning music in Jerusalem provides a very worthwhile alternative to an otherwise difficult living situations in many families.

Last November, the best students of the Magnificat, performed in the auditorium of the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, which for several years now has organized a prestigious season of concerts.

In a marvelous setting on the Mount of Olives, the public was listening to a wonderful performance and without showing the slightest stage fright, fifteen students of the Magnificat, aged 9 - 14 performed classical pieces for piano, flute, violin and cello by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Telemann, Poulenc and others. Applause from the audience confirmed the successful performance and an additional performance was given by the “Yasmeen” girls’ choir made up of teenagers and conducted by Hania Sabbara, the head teacher of the school.

The Magnificat Institute was founded in 1995 by Father Armando Pierucci, the organist of the Holy Sepulchre and Conservatoire teacher who is still its Director. The reputation of the Magnificat is continually growing thanks to the great professionalism of the teachers and the new possibilities that have opened up to the school to award academic diplomas which are also recognized in the European Union following the agreement made with the “Pedrollo” Conservatoire of Vicenza, which guarantees and supervises the standards of quality to be observed.

The characteristic of the school of music run by the Custody of the Holy Land, however, is also that of effectively being a laboratory for peace and sharing, with teachers and pupils who are Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Muslims and Christians, all united by music to build up a new Jerusalem of peace. This is why the Custody of the Holy Land considers the Magnificat a very important activity in its mission.

The Magnificat Institute in the Holy City of Jerusalem has as its goal the promoting of knowledge about music with particular attention to the cultural heritage of various local communities in the Holy Land. The target goals at the heart of the Magnificat Institute of Jerusalem are as follows:

• Prepare teachers capable of teaching and transmitting love for music in schools in the Holy Land.
• Sing and play in the shrines and parishes of the Holy Land, in particular the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, the Holy City.
• Create opportunities, both choral and instrumental, to break down the cultural, religious and linguistic barriers and promote peaceful and friendly relationships in the Holy Land between children of different backgrounds, and in particular in the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Given the critical social context in which the Magnificat Institute of Jerusalem finds itself, only some of the students are able to pay the tuition to attend the Institute and that is the reason for outside support for the musical scholarships.

“I trust that the harmony of music, which knows no social and religious barriers, is a constant invitation to all people of good will to seek together the universal language of love that makes them capable of building a world of justice and solidarity, of hope and peace.” Pope Benedict XVI

The project consists of a new Memorial Hall where the faithful can have their names and the names of loved ones engraved on a plaque that will be placed on the wall of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

The press office of the Franciscans in the Holy Land has explained that despite the current economic difficulties, "This is a win-win agreement because at the same time that we are offering constant prayer for loved ones who are living or deceased, we are ensuring a Christian presence in the Holy Land, which is increasingly threatened by radicalism."

Thanks to the plaques at the Memorial Hall and the inscriptions in the Book of Remembrance, the Franciscans will be able to offer assistance for education, housing, jobs and hope for the marginalized Christians who want to stay in their homeland.

If you would like more information , please click here.

FFHL has been able to help these families with educational grants.

The 4^th annual “Children’s March for Peace” took place with some 400 Christian boys and girls who came from the outskirts of Jerusalem to meet 300 other boys and girls in Manager Square in Bethlehem. For many, this journey is the first time they get to experience, visit and worship at the birthplace of Jesus.

The children exchange gifts, play games and put on shows in celebration of Christmas. At Manger Square the children release bouquets of white balloons as a sign of peace and freedom.

Most of the families learned the good news one day before, or in the middle of the night. “The administrative department called us at half-past midnight. We had to go to the Custody to sign the contract immediately. We were so overjoyed we could not sleep any more that night. “Father Custos finished receiving the families at 3:00 AM; Father Ibrahim was up until 5:00 AM completing the formalities. “It was a magnificent night!” said the Custos, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa. He was clearly very happy, although he could not help thinking about the many applicants who were disappointed.

Over five years ago, six hundred fifty families applied for these sixty eight apartments in the St. Francis Village Housing Project in Bethpage – Jerusalem. These were families who have little income or were in danger of losing their identity cards because they have no legal residence. Without their identity card, they lose all insurance and benefits given to them according to law as Israeli citizens even though they have paid their taxes.

“This property project is not the first or the last by FFHL and the Custody. We are also continuing to restore houses in the old city,” explained the Custos. “These houses are the fruit of the generosity of Christians all over the world,” continued Father Ibrahim Faltas, the comptroller of the Custody. “The project cost several million dollars and began more than 20 years ago.”

It took more than 15 years to obtain building permits from the Israeli authorities. Then, when the work was able to begin, the second Intifada commenced. This temporarily halted the progress of building this project which was designed by Father Alberto Prodomo, an architect and a Franciscan of the Custody. When at last the houses were almost completed, a technical disagreement with the Municipality of Jerusalem not only blocked the water supply to the complex, but also its connection to the electric company. This led to another three years of red tape. There are twenty two small three-floor buildings with apartments ranging from 3 to 6 rooms.

One of the many families that received their new apartment stated that, “For years we made many sacrifices to be able to pay the exorbitant rent of $800 per month for a two bedroom apartment owned by a Muslim landlord. Now we are going to be paying only $200 a month, thanks to the Franciscans and we will now have enough money to begin making plans for our children’s higher education.”

The Custody does not intend to make a profit - only to fulfill the mission to “safeguard the Christians in the Holy Land. Our rational for building housing is not only to maintain the Christian presence in the Holy Land, but to raise up the dignity of these families so that they can have affordable housing.

The Franciscan Custody has been doing this for the last 400 years. We have to remember that having a house of one’s own is an encouragement to put down roots and to stay in this land.

We are not forgetting those whom we have not been able to help this time, as we have more housing plans on the way. The Custody already owns 500 houses in the Old City and more than 200 outside the city walls. We really want to halt Christian emigration by making these houses available but we cannot satisfy everyone at the same time.

“It is important to note that all of our housing projects continue to be built despite the unrest in the country. Our Franciscan properties have always been respected so there has been no damage to any of the homes built for our Christian brothers and sisters.”

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Fr. Battistelli stated, “All of us should be proud of this day, because in the midst of all the conflict surrounding the people of Bethlehem, hope is now being given and will continue to be given you. It is through the generosity of the Franciscan Foundation and the many benefactors both in the United States and Europe that have made this dream a reality. We thank them for their generosity and help.”

Among the benefactors from the U.S. were: representing his archdiocese, the Most Reverend John F. Donoghue, DD Archbishop of Atlanta, Robert F. McCullough family from San Francisco, and the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land.

Twelve needy Christian families now have a home to call their own, and within the year, an additional twenty-four more apartments were finished for occupancy thus providing for some 36 marginalized Christian families. Fr. Peter Vasko concluded that none of this could have been accomplished but by the benevolence of so many Catholics around the world, but especially from the United States, who gave so generously to the FFHL for this purpose.ies who attended the dedication were Honorable Hanna Nasser, Mayor of Bethlehem, the Honorable Bishara Dahoud, Member of Parliament, members of the City Council, Fr. Abdel Masih, OFM, Comptroller of the Franciscan Custody, Fr. Amjad Sabbara, OFM, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Fr. Johannes Simon, OFM, Guardian of the Franciscan Monastery in Bethlehem, Sister Marie Grech, Executive Director of the Franciscan

In addition to completing a small housing project for the Custody in Bethlehem, Jack Ardon's company built a housing unit in Beit-Hanina with funds raised with the help of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land. This project consisted of ten, two-bedroom apartments. Completion of the project in July of 2001 was celebrated by a special gathering of the new tenant families and the Franciscans who blessed the new building.

Francis and Maha Tams live in this new addition with their daughter Jasmine. Out of approximately two hundred and fifty applications for the ten available apartments, Francis and Maha felt extremely fortunate to have been chosen to live in this new edition. 

"There is not enough decent housing available for a Christian family in Jerusalem. The Custody is helping but they can only do so much. It is very difficult to build anything today in Jerusalem due to poor economy, land conflicts, and government hassles to get building permits. We have been very blessed to be selected to live here." Francis, a freelance accountant, spent seven years in jail over political issues and knows first-hand what it is like to struggle day to day with a young Christian family in Jerusalem. When asked about the new apartment, Francis replied, "This home has allowed me to stand by my principles of never leaving this country. This is my homeland; it is where I want to raise my daughter. We believe in peace and we will always pray for peace."

Jack Ardon of Ardon Construction Company, who employs only Christians, oversaw the completion of this project. "The Franciscans offer these families a very good quality home complete with a full kitchen and central heating for around $300 a month. Most other houses in the area do not include kitchen appliances or central heat and their rent is much higher.

“Before living in Friendship House, our monthly rent was much higher, sometimes two or three times more. We had to pay a lot of money for not much room. Work was not always easy to get and we lived in constant fear of losing our job and our home. Now, my brother and I both work for the Franciscans. All the families in the Friendship House are Christian families… I do not live in fear anymore. I have a nice home in a good environment for my family - praise God."

In any case, its presence in the Holy Land implies above all the pastoral care of the local churches. For a long time, the friars of the Custody were the only ones to look after the small groups of Christians in the Holy land, creating parishes and organizational structures for these communities.

The parish activity was of particular importance to bring the faithful closer and “back” to Christianity in various historical periods. The Custody still offers numerous resources for the parishes and for the work and activities connected with them. The various forms of pastoral activity by the Custody in the Holy Land include, for a great part, spiritual assistance (Masses, confessions, retreats, etc.) for the religious communities.

In regards to this area the Custody has 29 parishes and numerous churches and chapels here in the Middle East. Our parishes are as follows: 9 in Israel and the Occupied Territories, 4 in Egypt, 8 in Syria, 2 in Lebanon, 3 in Cyprus, 2 in Rhodes and one in Italy. They are administered by 70 religious.

Within the Custody's sphere of pastoral ministry resides other apostolates of a social nature: schools and 'colleges' (16), student housing (5), trade schools (3), parish organizations (18), rest homes for the elderly (2), orphanages (2), after school activities (7), women's workplaces(8), summer camps (7), clinics (3).

Religious Personnel

Bishops - 2

Friars, Priests – 205

Friars, Brothers – 92

Friars, Students – 28

Novices – 5

Total - 332

The Franciscans established themselves near the 5th Station of the Via Dolorosa

1309 Decree of Bibars II which permitted them to live in the Cenacle, the Sepulchre, and in Bethlehem

1323 Jerusalem:
Service and humble life at the Holy Sepulchre Church

1335
Foundation of the convent at the Cenacle

1342
Canonical erection of the Custody of the Holy Land by Pope Clement VI

1347 Bethlehem:
Definitive occupation at the sanctuary of the Nativity

1363 Jerusalem:
Possession of the Tomb of the Virgin, until 1757

1392 Jerusalem:
Recovery of the Grotto of the Apostles, north of the Garden of Gethsemane

1485 Ein Kerem:
Acquisition of the place of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. A church is built in 1621.

1551
Expulsion from the friary at the Cenacle

1557 Jerusalem:
The headquarters of the Custody passes to the new convent of St. Savior

1620 Nazareth:
Acquisition of the ruins of the sanctuary of the Annunciation. A church is built in 1730.

1631 Mt. Tabor:
Acquisition of the ruins of the sanctuary of the Transfiguration. A chapel is built in 1736.

1641
Beginning of negotiations for acquiring Cana in Galilee, which were completed in 1879. Church built in 1880.

1666 Jerusalem:
Acquisition of Garden of Gethsemane. Present basilica was built between 1919 and 1924.

1679 Ein Kerem:
Acquisition of sanctuary of the Visitation. Church built between 1938 and 1940.

1745 Nazareth:
Acquisition of the Crusader ruins of the sanctuary of the Nutrition (St. Joseph). First chapel 1754; present church 1911-1914.

1836 Jerusalem:
Acquisition of the place of the Flagellation. Chapel built in 1839.

1861 Emmaus-Qubeibeh:
The chapel of St. Cleopas donated by the Marquess P. Nicolay and built in 1872. Present basilica built in 1901.

1878 Naim:
Acquisition of the sanctuary where the widow's son was raised. Chapel built in 1880.

1880
Bethphage sanctuary acquired. Chapel built in 1883.

1889 Jerusalem:
Acquisition of 5th Station, Dominus Flevit; in Galilee, Tabgha and Magdala.

1894
Capernaum acquired. Synagogue restored in 1921.

1909 Bethlehem (Beit Sahur):
Shepherds Bela is acquired. Chapel built between 1953 and 1954.

1933
On the shores of the Jordan River, acquisition of the site of Jesus baptism.

1936 Jerusalem:
The new convent at the Cenacle is built on Mt. Zion.

1950
Bethany sanctuary recovered. Shrine of St. Lazarus built 1952.

 Many religious, brothers and priest are actively involved in providing hospitality and serving as spiritual guides for those who come on pilgrimage.  In keeping with the tradition that goes back for centuries, the Custody maintains “Casa Nova’s” – that is hospices for pilgrims.  These “Casa Nova’s” are located in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ain Karem, Nazareth, and Mt. Tabor, and are modern, well-kept and comfortable.  Once the pilgrims reach the Holy Land, we provide another service for them, and that is our Franciscan Pilgrims Office.  This pilgrim’s office has, for more than 30 years, given invaluable service to priest and hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, not to mention visitors from every race and religion.  

The Holy Sepulchre of Christ: the destination of the Christian pilgrimage

Christianity is not linked to any country or place in particular, but is based on a historical revelation and just as there exists a “history of salvation” there also exists a “geography of salvation”: the Holy Land.

This is how Paul VI described it: “The land where our fathers in faith once lived; the land in which the voice of the prophets echoed, the prophets who spoke in the name of God, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and above all the land which the presence of Jesus has made blessed and sacred for the whole of the human race”.

It is “the land of Jesus, the spiritual heritage of all Christians who desire visiting it at least once in their lifetime.”

Therefore, for every Christian, Jerusalem is the heart of the Holy Land, the synthesis of the action of God for the good of the whole of humanity. For us as Christians, it represents the geographical point of union between God and men, between eternity and history. The preaching, passion and resurrection of Jesus, the Last Supper, the gift of the Spirit to the Church, the foundations of our faith are rooted forever, like rocks, on the luminous hills of the Holy City.

How many times has its name echoed in the historical books, in the Psalms, in the Prophets and in the Gospels! Jerusalem, always loved and desired, disparaged and lamented, trodden on and resuscitated, reproached, consoled and glorified. It is really a most unique city in the world!”

The centre of Jerusalem is the Holy Sepulchre.

This is where the salvific presence of God is revealed in a very special way, as is his love for all men. In the words of Paul VI, it is the “most beautiful sanctuary that exists for the heart of a Christian."  In fact, the passion, death and resurrection of Christ have always been the central mystery of Christianity and what gives a meaning to our life, with the liturgy that celebrates them on the three days of Good Friday, Easter Saturday and the Sunday of Resurrection. The primitive Christian community, here in the Holy City, commemorated them in three different places:

• the Calvary, the place of the passion and the answer to the problem of human grief
• Adam’s Grotto, the place that commemorates the descent of Christ to the kingdom of the dead and the meaning of our death as separation and suffering
• the Empty Tomb, the place of the victory of Christ over death and the tangible sign of Christian hope

It is only in the Holy Sepulchre that the land becomes liturgy and the salvific act becomes concrete in time and space. In many countries, the liturgy says “Today Christ is risen,” but it is only in Jerusalem that we can say “Christ is risen from this tomb” or “He was crucified in this Calvary.”

The Holy Sepulchre is the echo of the “good news” which is at the basis of all the rest: Jesus died, proof of his infinite love for men and was then resurrected as we will be resurrected for Christ, with Christ and in Christ. This announcement explains better the reasons why pilgrims come to Jerusalem; it explains why we celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ and why we profess our faith in a future resurrection of man.

It was exactly two thousand years ago that everything began, when some fishermen from Galilee went around saying that Jesus had died, was resurrected and that they had seen him. It is on this fragile and incredible testimony that everything is based: churches, cathedrals, the priesthood, missions, religious, Councils and theology.

 The Empty Tomb is the kilometer zero from which all the roads in the world start from, 
“the navel of the world” as our ancestors called it, the center of our history.

Pilgrims who come to Jerusalem do everything they can to visit the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest place in Christianity, as soon as possible. On arriving in the Holy City, pilgrims repeat the words of the Psalm “I rejoiced when they said to me: let us go to the House of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1) as they go towards “Christ’s Tomb”.

 However, not everything is so easy. Today, the Holy Sepulchre of Jesus is in the middle of the buildings of the Old City, surrounded by markets, souvenir shops and minarets.

Pilgrims wonder where the hill, the garden and the tomb are, wishing that the principal sanctuary of Christianity stood in majestic isolation from the rest and that natural light illuminated it all, far from the crowd and darkness. They would like peace and quiet around them, but they feel the confusion amongst the five groups that occupy it – the Franciscans, the Greek Orthodox, the Armenians, the Syrians and the Coptic Orthodox – who jealously guard their right of being there.

It is actually the only place in the world where love for God is manifested in the clearest and deepest way, but so is the human weakness of wanting to monopolize that same God. It is therefore important that the pilgrims, who feel bewildered, allow themselves to be embraced by the mystery and understand that like him, thousands of other pilgrims considered it worth risking their lives to adore our Saviour. Only kneeling on the Empty Tomb and forgetting everything that surrounds him, will the pilgrim be able to hear the words of the angel “He is not here! He is risen! Come see the place where the Lord lay.”

The Franciscan Friars Minor of the Custos of the Holy Land were given the task of caretakers for the holy sites including the Tomb of Christ. It has been a goal of the foundation, being under the Custos, to bring restoration to the tomb and respectfully and rightly preserve the place where Our Savior laid his head in death. The hope is to raise $4.5 million dollars which is only one third of the total estimated cost for restoration of the tomb.

The Franciscans have the privilege, along with other Christian churches, to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in this beautiful basilica daily. Today the church is shared by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian and Ethiopian communities. Efforts of restoration have been hindered due to infighting among these various Christian groups who continue to share ownership of the different parts of the building.

A visit to this basilica, holiest spot in the world, can be disappointing.  The scandal of the divisions in the church, the body of Christ, is nowhere more apparent than here. Yet it also shows that Jesus was not afraid to embrace and walk among our seared and scarred humanity.  Here He rose from the dead to ‘free those who through fear of death had been slaves their whole life long’ (Heb 2:15).  Here the power of risen life is offered to all.  From here, He challenges His followers to live as proof of His resurrection.

Reflections by Stephen Doyle, ofm

SANCTUARIES OF THE CUSTODY OF THE HOLY LAND

a) Properties of the Custody

GALILEE 21

JUDEA 34

SYRIA 32

JORDAN 1

Subtotal: 58

b) Sanctuaries of JUDEA:

In the hands of Jews and Muslims – 3

In property shared with other Christian denominations – 3

In the hands of other Christian denominations - 10

Total sanctuaries: 74

The Custody has two chief means of promoting information about the Holy Places: The Franciscan Printing Press located in Jerusalem and our numerous religious branches called "Commissaries of the Holy Land" scattered throughout the world. The Franciscan Printing Press is a publishing arm of the Franciscan Custody which publishes a good amount of scholarly work in close collaboration with the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. The press also publishes a wide variety of materials, including greeting cards, post cards, maps, etc. as well as popular books (including guide-books to the shrines), periodicals, and scholarly works coming out of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum.

The most widely-known work of the Press is the periodical "The Holy Land," first published 70 years ago and now printed in English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Arabic. It offers an interesting combination of spirituality, archeology, biblical studies, history, and the activities of the shrines, presented in a way that appeals to a broad spectrum of readers. One of the most famous and classical guide books of the Holy Land in English, Guide to the Holy Land, was written by our own Fr.Eugene Hoade, O.F.M.

A second effective means of spreading information as well as building interest in the Shrines of the Holy Land is the network of our Commissariats. Numbering 82 and found in 44 different countries, their work is to actively make known the ideals and needs of the Custody as well as preaching the word about the Holy Land. In this way, they are able to foster a worldwide interest in the Holy Shrines which serve as the roots of our Christian faith and which will hopefully provide an incentive to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Pilgrims who go to the Holy Land generally encounter the Franciscans almost exclusively in the sanctuaries, yet very few know about the extensive involvement in the pastoral areas. In reality, far beyond the care and ministry of the shrines, the Custody is hard at work in a vast and active pastoral ministry in serving the poor whether they be Christian or non-Christian.

We would like to give a few examples. The Custody has been maintaining for over a century two orphanages, one for boys and one for girls. The Custody has also been involved in helping and assisting the elderly by establishing two nursing homes called "Terra Sancta Rest Home", one on Cyprus and another in Nazareth. In assisting the sick, the Custody provides medical care through its various clinics, coordinating the efforts of doctors, nurses, and religious. This particular work is flowering especially in Egypt, Syria and Cyprus. The "Eastern Organization of the Holy Land" has, for example, opened a center for children afflicted with polio.

For a very long time, the Custody has been assisting the homeless as well as the poor with housing accommodations through our ministry of housing. This ministry or apostolate is attempting to alleviate the plight that many of our poorer Christians find themselves in by providing an incentive to stem the alarming exodus of Christians leaving the Holy Land, and especially from Jerusalem due to political turmoil and economic instability which they are facing. 

Faithful to its commitment to education, the Custody has built many educational facilities within the elementary and secondary educational range. Our schools are open to all youth, without distinct

ion to religion, nationality or race. Because of the diverse social and political conditions in the vast areas served, involvement varies.

Responsibilities in this field present a notable challenge, especially in organization as well as finances. For example, many students come from indigent families with limited resources and hence must work. Yet the Custody continuously welcomes them and educates them free of charge, a concept which is part and parcel of our Franciscan tradition in assisting the poor.

The Custody has schools in Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Egypt and Lebanon, numbering 16 in all. These serve a total of 10,000 students of various Catholic rites (Roman, Greek, Armenian, Syrian, Coptic, Maronite, Chaldean) as well as non-Catholics and non-Christians. This mixture of various Christian denominations and non-Christians (which make up 60%of the student body) certainly provides the Custody with new horizons in the field of evangelization.

As a center of research, the SBF has been dedicated to their discovery of the holy places of the New Testament and of the primitive Church in the Holy Land. Professors at the school have been instruments in all levels of historical investigation: from researching written traditions (including pilgrims' itineraries), to directing archeological digs, to commentaries and analyses of ancient texts both biblical and extra-biblical, Christian and Hebrew. Research covers many dimensions: the historical context, linguistics, exegesis and theology. Some of the excavations they have supervised are: the Holy Sepulchre and others in the Old City of Jerusalem; the Mount of Olives, the Judean desert, Herodion, Nazareth, Capernaum, and the Transjordan region, to name a few. Part of the SBF is taken up by a museum which displays some of the objects unearthed. The scholarly work of the SBF is written up in four separate volumes as well as an annual review: Major Works (from 1941, 36vol.), Minor Works (from 1961, 33vol.), the Analecta (from 1962, 33vol.), Museum (from 1976, 9 vol.),LiberAnnus (from 1951, 40 vol.).

As an educational center, the SBF is open to students of all nationalities, whether religious or lay. The majority of students though come from outside the Middle East. The SBF confers the Licentiate (2 yrs.) and Master's Degrees in Biblical Theology, a Diploma of Higher Studies in Biblical-Oriental Science (1yr.) and a Diploma of Biblical Formation. Examples of courses offered: introduction to the New and Old Testament, ancient oriental languages, biblical exegesis and theology, history, geography, and topography of biblical lands, archeology of the Bible and early Christianity. Classroom instruction is complemented with excursions to the various archeological sites in Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Sinai. In addition,the SBF offers weeks of updating in biblical studies and courses to prepare those who want to guide pilgrims in the Holy Land. The library contains over 30,000 volumes and 400 periodicals. Our Center of Oriental Studies in Cairo was founded to foster to the study of Middle East Christian communities, and to document the life and history of the Franciscans in the Holy Land, drawing from the work of Fr. Girolamo Golubovich. The primary work of the Center is to make information available, through publication, and through library, unique for its kind, containing more than 30,000 volumes (many manuscripts in Arabic, Syrian, Coptic, Armenian, Turkish, Persian, etc.) as well as 200 periodicals.

JERUSALEM.  Holy Week continues to play a pivotal role in Christian spirituality.  It marks the culmination of salvation history; beginning with desperate suffering and ending in joyous hope.  As a Franciscan friar who has lived and ministered in the Holy land for the last twenty-five years, this week has particular meaning for me.

We Franciscans continue the legacy of our founder and father, St. Francis of Assisi, who, some 800 years ago was entrusted with protecting the holy sites in this precious land. We also have a special calling to minister to the indigenous Christians here, those ‘Guardians of Christianity’ who have courageously maintained their faith and heritage over these many centuries in spite of misunderstanding, persecution, discrimination and suffering. 

At this time of year, when I am escorting pilgrims through the cramped streets ofJerusalem, or the byways of Nazareth, I am mindful of the challenges facing the dwindling Christian population here in the Holy land.  Their ancestors were Christ’s first followers, and now they are leaving this land in alarming numbers.  I always remind the pilgrims who come here that this is indeed the ‘Cradle of Christianity’ and hence all Christians have a stake in its preservation.  The visitors come to see where Christ walked and hopefully also experience what life is like for His followers today. 

To be in Jerusalem on Good Friday is an experience unlike any other.  To join the throngs jamming the Via Dolorosa where Christ carried His cross, to stand for a moment at the first station where Jesus was scourged, crowned, and then condemned to death by Pilate is a moving encounter for any believer. When leading hundreds of the faithful along the Via Dolorosa, I attempt to make them viscerally aware of what Jesus must have gone through in this agonizing experience;  His blood spilling profusely from His torn body, the agony of carrying a heavy wooden beam in such a weakened state, His repeated falls and the anguished efforts to rise again. Each time I describe these events for the pilgrims, I find myself experiencing them anew. Thoughts of anger crowd my mind as I consider the rabble that tormented Him:  those who jeered and laughed at the One who made the blind see and brought the dead back to life.  I tell the pilgrims of the soldiers who constantly beat Him as He carried His cross, the same people who would finally nail him to it.  As we proceed from station to station, in the midst of this sorrowful walk, I can almost hear the words of Jesus in the shuffling steps:  “Forgive them!  Forgive them!”  Hundreds join our reflective march, sharing Christ’s passion on the very ground where it occurred, where history moved and salvation was birthed.  Finally, we reach the climax of the Way of the Cross in an ancient courtyard which gives way to the most revered church in Christendom. 

Late in the afternoon on Good Friday, thousand spill from the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  Each year the Franciscans reenact a solemn ceremony where a replica of the body of Jesus is literally taken down from the cross at the very site where Christ was crucified.  After the nails are pulled from the body, it is then placed in a white linen shroud and carried solemnly by four friars to a low, marble slab called the Stone of Unction.  There the body is anointed and then reverently placed in the Tomb.  When those doors of the Sepulcher slam shut there is always a stark silence, despite the crowds.  A profound absence hangs in the air. 

I have been honored for many years to be one of the pall bearers transporting the replica of Christ from Calvary to the Sepulcher.  It never fails to move me.  Suddenly time collapses and we are all there; removing Jesus from His cross, preparing the body, and placing Him in the borrowed tomb.  Now as then, there are sniffles and moans, muttered prayers, and sadness on all sides. 

Then early on Easter morning, church bells ring throughout the Old City of Jerusalem joyfully proclaiming Christ’s resurrection.  At the Tomb of Christ, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher communal celebrations, services and masses will be offered throughout the day.  It is a day of celebration after a season of penance and suffering. This year, 2010, the joy of Easter is being shared in common among the Roman Catholics, Greek, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian and Orthodox.  

For both the indigenous Christians of this land and for the thousands of visiting pilgrims, Easter is an explosion of joy, a celebration of hope. Suffering and hope go hand in hand in this great paschal mystery and in the Holy Landitself.  Without the crucifixion, the resurrection would not be possible.  Suffering faithfully embraced is often times the portal to hope and the way to new life.  Entering the sacred Tomb of Christ on Easter Sunday it becomes clear to any visitor that these walls are no longer a container of death, but a witness to the resurrection.  The very site becomes a reinforcement of faith, a bridge to the eternal.  Praying within the cramped chamber that has destroyed, rebuilt, burned and blessed, one is reminded of the words of St. Paul: death has no victory here, and we too are destine to share in this radical transformation through death to new life.  This is the principal reason why people come from all over the world to the Holy Land:  to be where Christ was and is, to physically situate themselves amid the markers of salvation history, and to rehearse the final pilgrimage to new life that awaits each of us. 

Father Peter Vasko is President of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land and a member of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.

To view this article in the Wall Street Journal online edition, click here.

Below are testimonials from pilgrims about their experiences in the Holy Land. Submit an email of your experiences as a pilgrim visiting the Holy Land. Include pictures and how the graces received there have changed your life. Please include your name and address for recognition. We will do our best to review and post your thoughts to share with others.

Please email testimonials@ffhl.org

• I had the most wonderful experiences on my trip to the Holy Land. I have only been on one other pilgrimage and this was 100% better.  Our guide, George, had a wealth of knowledge about the times, the bible, the history. He would tell us…you need to learn this, or you must listen to this.. always teaching us. Telling us all about the different places made such an impression, and a sense of how true our religion is and how great our God is.
  
  Going to church now and listening to the readings.. it is all so real to me. I can say…I have been there, and I have seen, I have heard.. it is just the most wonderful things that has happened to me. I wish everyone could get that close to what we see and what we read in Church.
  
  How fortunate I was to be able to go there. I thank God. I thank our priests, our other pilgrims, George and Emil our bus driver. I am so happy I made that decision to go. Thank you for making it possible.
  Norma Lou Knerler April 2010
  
  
• This was our first pilgrimage and we were both changed, spiritually and emotionally by this pilgrimage. We will never forget our experiences in the Holy Land. Our faith is now deeper and stronger. Seeing, touching, and praying at all of the sites we visited has left an indelible mark on our hearts and souls.
  Robert & Ruth Yearling April 2011
  
  
• It was all a pure joy and a grace. I was overwhelmed emotionally at many holy sites. Father Vasko was fun and knowledgeable, and he helped me to stay attuned s[iritually as well. The guide, itinerary, the sites chosen, the bus driver, th hotels, the food and restaurants, the servers at the hotels, the other people on the pilgrimage just couldn’t have been better.  Thank you so much for arranging this pilgrimage with a fine spiritual leader. It truly was refreshing and renewing for me. I had not idea how wonderful it would be or how it would enrich my life as a priest. God bless all of you in your work.
  Fr. James Benton April 2011
  
  
• Great experience, the knowledge and insight provided throughout the trip was very helpful – made the trip much more meaningful. Having mass at the Holy Sites was amazing and such a gift.
  John and Linda Borgo April 2012
  
  
• My pilgrimage experience was more than words can say. So much was packed in, it was overwhelming. George, our guide, was excellent/outstanding/the best. Beyond any and all expectations. Thank you. The office people were kind and helpful each time I called.
  Daedine Roedel March 2012
  

Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, a native of Bergamo, Italy, was appointed as the new Custodian of the Holy Land in June of 2004 by the Holy See and nominated by the General Definitor of the Franciscan order. He succeeds Fr. Giovanni Battistelli, OFM.

The appointment also allows Fr. Pizzaballa to serve as President of the Commission for Missionary Evangelization, Chairman of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, and as a member of the Commission for Judaism and Islam of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.

In a recent interview, Fr. Pizzaballa reflected that, “Franciscans are at the heart of the life of the Church and of the world here (in the Holy Land)…the greatest challenge that we find ourselves facing now is that of not being limited to undergoing the difficult situations in which we live, but to become interested in them with an active and critical attitude.”

Fr. Pizzaballa was ordained into the priesthood in 1990 and has lived in the Holy Land for over 15 years. His previous appointments include serving as vicar of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic parish, and superior of the Friary of Saints Joachim and Anne. Fr. Pizzaballa also served as an assistant professor of biblical Hebrew and Judaism at the Studium Biblicum in Jerusalem.

In 1995, Fr. Pizzaballa and Franciscan Fr. Massimo Pazzini published the Mass in Hebrew. Fr. Pizzaballa, who is presently completing a doctorate in Holy Scriptures at the Studium Biblicum, has also translated several liturgical texts into Hebrew for the Hebrew-speaking Catholic communities in Israel.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

TEKTON MINISTRIES
Richard J. Sontag, Jr.
(866) 905-3787 
info@ffhl.org

Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick was born in New York City on July 7, 1930, to Theodore and Margaret McLaughlin McCarrick. He was ordained to the priesthood by Francis Cardinal Spellman on May 31, 1958 and earned a Ph.D. in Sociology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. His first assignment was at Catholic University, where he served as Assistant Chaplain, Dean of Students and Director of Development. In 1965, he was named president of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce. In 1969, he returned to New York to serve first as Associate Secretary for Education and then as Terence Cardinal Cooke’s Secretary.

Named an Auxiliary Bishop of New York in 1977, he served as Vicar of East Manhattan and the Harlems. In 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed him the first Bishop of Metuchen, a newly-established diocese in New Jersey and as Archbishop of Newark in 1986. On January 3, 2001, he was installed as Archbishop of Washington, a position he held until May 2006. On February 21, 2001, he was elevated to the College of Cardinals.

Cardinal McCarrick is past chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committees on Domestic Policy, International Policy, Migration, Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. He also has served on the Administrative, Doctrine, Laity, Latin America and Missions committees. He has been Chancellor of The Catholic University of America and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He serves on the Board of Directors of Catholic Relief Services. For the Vatican, he serves on the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples and Pontifical Commission for Latin America. He was one of l5 U.S. bishops elected to serve as a member of the 1997 Synod for America and on the Post Synodal Council. He is a founding member of the Papal Foundation and has served as its President since 1997.

Cardinal McCarrick has visited many nations as a human rights advocate and to survey humanitarian needs, including China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea, Rwanda and Eastern Europe. In 1996, then-Archbishop McCarrick was invited to serve on the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad. In 1998, he was one of three American clerics invited to China to discuss religious freedoms in that country. From 1999 to 2001, he was a member of the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom. In 2000, he was honored by the Presidents of Lebanon and of the United States for his work on human rights, just two of many honors he has received.

Cardinal McCarrick speaks five languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Richard J. Sontag, Jr. 
(866) 905-3787
info@ffhl.org

GENERAL:

• The Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land is a worldwide ecumenical Christian organization founded in 1994 under the auspices of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.  Formal support for the Foundation comes from Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Presbyterian churches worldwide to preserve the Christian presence in the Holy Land.
• The purpose of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land is to safeguard the basic human rights of the Christian Palestinian minority living in the Holy Land.  For these Christians trapped in a hostile environment of ethnic distrust, the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land is the only organized voice.
• Approximately 150,000 Christians remain in the Holy Land.  Because of severe political and economic hardships, an estimated 500-600 Christians leave the Holy Land each year, and it is possible that the Christian church may one day cease to exist in this part of the world.
• As the Christian minority struggles to survive in the volatile political situation of the Middle East, the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land uses every available resource to help the poor and unemployed meet their human needs.  By conducting a public relations and communications campaign to tell the story of their suffering to a worldwide audience, the Foundation works to protect the fundamental right of Christian Palestinians to peace and equal opportunity in their homeland.
• The initial goal of the Foundation is to raise $30 million in order to fund the following aid projects:
• Create job opportunities for Christians by providing training and counseling for positions in schools, churches, parish centers and medical facilities.
• Provide academic scholarships for talented but underprivileged Christian students.  As of December 2002, the Foundation has given over 60 scholarships and 4 educational grants amounting to $1,000,000.
• Build 500 subsidized housing units in Bethphage, Jericho, Beit-Hanina, Nazareth and Bethlehem for Christian families at a cost of $100,000 per unit.

ECONOMICS:

• The politically motivated “closures” of the West Bank and Gaza to the remainder of Israel have a strong negative impact on the Palestinian economy.  Millions of dollars in revenue are lost every day within the West Bank and Gaza because Israel controls all the borders and prevents imports or exports from coming into or going out of these regions.
• In 2010, unemployment among Palestinians, largely due to forced closures and travel restrictions enacted by the Israeli government, reached 70 percent in Gaza and 50 percent in the West Bank.
• The average income for Israelis in the Holy Land is $25,000 - $26,000 per annum.
• The average income for Palestinians in the Holy Land is $4,000- $6,000 per annum.
• The majority of Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
• Most of the Christians living in the Holy Land are of Palestinian descent.  Though they are blameless bystanders to the Moslem-Israeli conflict, Christian Palestinians are severely handicapped by the political side effects of aggression on both sides.  The fact that there are currently thousands of Christians in the Holy Land whose way of life is threatened is not commonly known in the United States and Western countries.
• 65 percent of Palestinians live below the poverty level, i.e. under $3,000 per year which affects 2 out of 3 Palestinians of which 3 percent are Christian.
• Currently, 50 percent of Palestinian men and 85 percent of Palestinian women are unemployed.

FOREIGN AID:

• Israel received $9 billion in foreign aid in 2010 (Three billion in foreign aid and 6 billion in additional U.S. government assistance in public and private sectors). This total breaks down into $15.5 million per day, 365 days a year.
• In 2010 the Palestinian Authority received international aid total in $2.1 billion. None of this aid reaches the outnumbered and previously unspoken-for Christian minority population.

FOREIGN IMMIGRANTS:

In 2010, 200,000 foreign workers replaced Palestinians who were kept from their places of employment by the strict city and border “closures.” Palestinian workers average 8-9 dependents.  The loss of employment for Palestinians, because of foreign immigrant workers, thereby affects approximately 1 million people.

Specific Human rights issues concerning Christian Palestinians include:

• Education- The vast majority of Christians cannot afford the cost of higher education.  The closures of territories due to the long-standing ethnic conflicts in the Holy Land completely disrupt the educational system for Christians and Muslims.  During the closures, children and teachers may not be permitted to attend school for extended periods, and university students are also prohibited from pursuing their studies at schools outside the closure area. 
• Unemployment- Frequent disruptions of the local economy due to religious and ethnic conflicts have taken their toll.  Among Christian Palestinians and Muslims, unemployment has reached 60 percent for men and 85 percent for women.  A recent study indicates that 30 percent of all Christians living in the Holy Land (Israel, West Bank and Gaza) are unemployed.  Unemployment in the area is exacerbated by the on-going closure of the West Bank and Gaza to principal Israeli cities where the majority of Palestinians had been employed.  The average annual income ranges from $4,000 to $6,000.
• Housing- The current shortage of subsidized housing is a major factor in the ongoing exodus of Christians, for whom rent costs, even for the inferior living arrangements, are prohibitively high.
• Medical Care- Decreased income and high unemployment have left a great many Christians unable to afford even basic medical care for themselves and their children.

The goals established by the Foundation are:

• Implementing scholarship programs to offer hope to Christian Palestinians unable to afford the cost of higher education. 
• Help Christians find employment through training and counseling and also by creating new positions in schools, churches, parish centers, and medical facilities.
• Continuation of a Community Development Housing Program to provide subsidized housing for Christians in Holy Land cities.  More housing units are being designed for Bethlehem, Jericho, Bethphage and Nazareth, while 62 housing units have already been built in Bethany and Beit-Hanina.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Latest News:

• Orlando Region Touches Many Hearts at its Third Annual Fundraising Dinner
  
  
• Orlando Chapter Creates a Lasting Bond with the Boys Home in Bethlehem

To build and maintain a vibrant Christian support base in the Indianapolis Region whose compassion creates perpetual spiritual and monetary support to the FFHL.

Indiana Mission Statement

The FFHL Indiana Region is a localized operating arm of the FFHL whose mission it is to expand the knowledge of the importance of continued presence of the Palestinian Christian minorities living in the Holy Land.

Regional Objective

Remain faithful to the Catholic Church and the mission of the FFHL, while strengthening ties between the Indiana Catholic Community and the Family of Christ in the Holy Land.

Goals

I. Establish a perpetual Revenue Stream Generating $200,000 annually

II. Maintain a strong regional infrastructure and presence with the state of Indiana

III. Establish a Holy Land Ministry and movement within each parish in the Indianapolis and Lafayette Dioceses

IV. Conduct a fundraising dinner at a minimum of every 18 months

“Safeguarding the Christian Presence in the Holy Land”

Mission

Cradling Christianity (CC) was founded in 2006 by a group of Catholics from Columbus, Ohio upon their return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. CC strives to assist the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land to provide education, housing and employment to Christians in the Holy Land.

Company Overview

Local link to the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land.

Description

Founded in 2006 - CC is a not for profit organization with no political affiliation. We assist the Franciscan Foundation to the Holy Land to help the marginalized Christians in the Holy Land by providing education opportunities, housing, and employment.

General Information

All funds raised go directly to the Franciscan Foundation to the Holy Land. The Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) organization.

Latest News:

• Cradling Christianity sets their sites on next Fundraising Dinner for 2013 - Save the Date!!
  
  
• Stories from the Holy Land - by David Garick -Editor, Catholic Times
• An Encounter with the Divine
• The Pilgrim Way
• Holy Land Christians: The Living Stones of our Faith Heritage
• Cradling Christianity Hosts Fundraising Dinner - September 6, 2012

• Welcome address by the Custos of the Hol Land, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa to the Holy Father at the Holy Sepulchre (from link on the Franciscan Custody website)
• Benedict XVI in the Holy Land: All official statements (from link on Custody's website)
• Mount Precicipe, Nazareth: the location of the Mass Benedict XVI celebrated in Nazareth on May 14
• Mass in Jerusalem: “As the Successor of Saint Peter, I come to confirm you in the faith of your fathers”

The Holy Father receives from the FFHL during a luncheon in Bethlehem his enrollment plaque for the Memorial Hall:

Committee on International Justice and Peace
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

In consultation with
The Catholic Near East Welfare Association
Catholic Relief Services
Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs

December 2008

Pilgrimage may mean embarking on a journey of prayer; accompanying the poor, the oppressed, and refugees in their times of trial; visiting local holy sites; and countless other acts of faith. A pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a special time of spiritual journey for Christians. It is a time when we recommit ourselves to living a Christian life as a life of pilgrimage. For many American Catholics, going on pilgrimage to the Holy Land is an especially appropriate way to come to know the land where Jesus was born, where he preached and healed, suffered, died and rose again.

Originally issued at the time of the Great Jubilee in 2000, these revised and updated Holy Land Pilgrimage Guidelines are meant to encourage pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to offer suggestions to help deepen the spiritual experience of a pilgrimage.

Pilgrimage – A Spiritual Journey

The bishops of the United States, together with the Holy See and the Church in the Holy Land, desire to promote an authentic pilgrimage experience for Catholics visiting the Holy Land.  We encourage those who already plan to become pilgrims and those who are considering doing so, to undertake their journeys in a profoundly religious spirit, understanding they will be walking along the way of the Lord. Pilgrimages offer a special opportunity for Christian renewal and for carrying out the Church's mission of solidarity and reconciliation. Pilgrimage is a unique religious undertaking. Down the centuries, pilgrimage, whether begun out of devotion or in penitence, has been the occasion for conversion. Pilgrims are changed by the experience. Hearts and minds transformed forever, pilgrims have returned home with a new sense of their Christian calling to take up a new way of life. We want to encourage Catholics undertaking visits to the Holy Land to do so in the spirit of true pilgrims, to walk prayerfully and devoutly in the steps of our Lord and with openness to the movement of the Spirit of Jesus in their lives.

Potential pilgrims should not be discouraged by reports of the ongoing political instability in the region. They should draw strength from the generations of Christians who have made the pilgrimage to the Holy Land before them. They should also realize that Catholics have a special calming gift to bring to the Holy Land in the mission of repentance, conversion and renewal.

Solidarity with Holy Land Christians

Just as the Gospels are continued in the Book of Acts, so too pilgrimages are made complete by encounters with the living Church in the Holy Land. The Church of Jerusalem was the Mother Church for us all. It was from Jerusalem that the apostles went forth to spread the Gospel. It was to the Church in Jerusalem that other early communities of faith looked for guidance. So, we also hope that pilgrimages to the Holy Land will be an occasion to build solidarity between American pilgrims and the Church in the Holy Land whose center today is Jerusalem.

The great majority of Christians in the area are either Catholic or Orthodox. Most of the Catholics belong to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, a church of the Byzantine tradition whose patriarch resides in Damascus. There is also a sizable Latin-rite community under the jurisdiction of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. The local Orthodox Christians are part of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It has possession of many of the major Christian Holy Places. It shares custody (with the Franciscans and the Armenian Apostolic Church) of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, known to Greek Orthodox as the Church of the Resurrection.  There is also a significant presence of Oriental Orthodox Christians, especially the Armenian Apostolic Church, which has a local patriarchate and a school in Jerusalem associated with Saint James Cathedral and Monastery in the Armenian Quarter. A number of smaller Protestant groups complete the mosaic of Christian churches in the Holy Land. Your pilgrimage can offer a valuable opportunity to make contact with these groups, most of which have maintained a prayerful presence at the Holy Places for many centuries.

Jesus, on the night before he died, prayed for the unity of the Church. When Pope Paul VI visited Jerusalem in 1964, he made the encounter with the Ecumenical Greek Patriarch Athenagoras a major part of his pilgrimage. Awareness of the richness of the manifestations of Christian faith, especially in Jerusalem, can make every pilgrimage an encounter on the road to Christian unity. The Holy Land includes Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jerusalem and Jordan. For some eastern churches, the Holy Land also includes Lebanon and Syria. The Christians of the Holy Land have a difficult vocation to live out in the land of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Pilgrims should be attuned to the people, places and situations along their journey of faith. The whole Church will be strengthened by special efforts of solidarity on the part of pilgrims toward the local Christian communities. The Arab Christian presence in the Holy Land is part of the Church's historic witness to the Gospel. By experiencing the local Church's travails, pilgrims can share in the wider struggle for justice and peace, and can strengthen the bonds of solidarity between the Church in the United States and the Church in the Holy Land.

Solidarity with the Christians of the Holy Land is particularly necessary at the present time. The pressures faced by Christians of all denominations throughout the Middle East region and the ensuing emigration are major concerns for the bishops of the region. The Holy Land is of particular concern, for the whole Church has an interest in the survival and well-being of living communities of faith there.

Interreligious Ties

Traditionally, pilgrimage is also a time for healing and reconciliation. Today pilgrimage can contribute to reconciliation between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and the three monotheistic religions of the Holy Land: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Abraham is the father in faith for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. All worship the one God, listen to the divine word instructing them through scriptures, and treasure the Holy Land. For centuries, adherents of the three religions have lived side by side.

For all these reasons, the spirit of pilgrimage is not exclusive. Pilgrims should not visit the historic and modern Holy Land without encountering the living Christian community.  Likewise, they must also take pains to encounter the diverse peoples and traditions of the Holy Land. Pilgrimage today means meeting Christians, Jews, and Muslims and learning about the difficult issues they face together in the land all three call holy.

Knowledge of Key Concerns

A pilgrimage is not a political exercise, but pilgrims to the Holy Land ought to have an opportunity to understand the suffering of a local Church caught in the midst of conflict and the work of the Catholic Church for justice and peace in the Holy Land. Materials from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on peace between Israelis and Palestinians should be made available. Any pilgrimage should be a journey of faith and a prayerful search for justice and peace in the land that is holy to all of us. Many pilgrims are moved to work for justice and peace upon their return.

Guidelines

To allow pilgrims to experience the full religious power of their journey of faith, we make the following recommendations to potential pilgrims, guides, chaplains and Catholic travel agencies:

Pilgrimage

1. Pilgrimage should be planned and carried out as a genuinely religious exercise in the spirit of prayer, with reverent openness to the workings of the Spirit and the possibilities of conversion of life. Accordingly, pilgrimage differs from religious tourism and study tours of the Holy Land.

2. Pilgrims should be led by an accredited spiritual animator or licensed guide who appreciates and respects the Christian tradition and pilgrimage as a distinctive religious undertaking. There are Church-authorized and government-recognized pilgrimage animators. While, for the spiritual purposes of pilgrimage, Catholic or Christian animators or guides are preferable, when they are not available, non-Christian guides should be
supplemented with approved chaplains and spiritual directors. Be aware that in addition to licensed Israeli (Jewish and Arab) guides, certified Palestinian guides are now available for areas under Palestinian control. (Unfortunately, no reciprocity agreements are yet in effect with Israel.) Many of these guides have trained at the Holy See's Bethlehem University.

3. Pilgrimages should be planned and conducted with ample opportunity for prayer, celebration of the Sacraments, and personal and group reflection. The spiritual atmosphere of a pilgrimage can be enhanced by the simplicity and quiet of pilgrim hostels as opposed to the busyness of commercial hotels.

4. Care should be taken, with advanced planning, for the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy, the Sacraments, and special events such as the renewal of baptismal and marriage vows.

5. The pilgrimage experience is enhanced by liturgical and devotional music. Groups should identify musicians and song leaders, and select music or hymnals in advance. Musical tapes can help preserve a sense of prayer on longer bus rides.

6. The Holy Places that are staffed by the Franciscans will have specialized sacramentaries and lectionaries adapted to the memory of the people and events associated with the site. In addition, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has local liturgical books with Masses commemorating many pilgrims, hermits, penitents and other holy men and women who
journeyed to the Holy Land or made it their home. These may also be a source of inspiration for pilgrims and may be obtained from the Chancery of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

7. Commercial contacts should be carefully limited with a view to retaining the religious intention of pilgrimage. Pilgrims can lend support to the local economy, but shopping ought not to become a preoccupation. Group leaders should prearrange a limited number of scheduled shopping times and/or allow free time for activities not essential to journeying as pilgrims.

11 day Holy Land Itinerary

For additional itineraries click here or contact us at pilgrim@ffhl.org or toll free (866) 905-3787.

Tekton Ministries Pilgrimage Office
9924 Cedar Ridge Drive
Carmel, IN 46032
PHONE - (866) 905-3787
FAX - (866) 905-3788
pilgrim@ffhl.org

“I rejoiced, when they said to me:
Let us go to the House of the Lord!

And now our feet are standing
within your gates, Jerusalem!”

A song of Ascents, of David (Psalm 122)

What is it about this city that it has such a great attraction? What is it that makes a Christian pilgrim come to Jerusalem?

Jerusalem is the heart of the Holy Land,
the synthesis of the action of God for the good of the whole of humanity.

John Paul II expressed this in very moving words:“How many memories and images and how much passion and great mystery surround the word Jerusalem! For us as Christians, it represents the geographical point of union between God and men, between eternity and history.”

But to go on a pilgrimage in the Holy Land means setting off and turning the physical journey into a “path of the soul”.

The pilgrim comes with an inclination for conversion

In antiquity, especially in the Holy Land, the pilgrimage had mostly a penitential function, also due in part to the difficulties that such a mission involved: long and difficult journeys, discomfort, political problems and so on. Pilgrims were animated by very deep faith and were even ready to die, which sometimes happened in the course of their journey. The pilgrimage was also an opportunity to expiate their sins, which was shown symbolically when they replaced their ordinary clothes to those of the pilgrim, the expression of their wishes.

Today, with the comforts of modern life, luxury hotels and fast means of transport, that external aspect of repentance has been lost and the pilgrimage is often converted into tourism, even for those who go on it for strictly religious reasons.

The truth is that being pilgrims is no easy task.

The most important thing of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem is the interior decision to answer the call of the Spirit in a personal way, like a disciple of Jesus.

Therefore, the pilgrimage is also “a path of conversion”: the pilgrim has the chance to live out the experience of the prodigal son, he who knows sin, the harshness of the ordeal and repentance and the sacrifice of the journey, but who also knows the embrace of the merciful Father who leads him back to life (cf. Luke 15:24).

In this process of “life change” to be oriented towards God, participation in the sacrament of reconciliation will be required, where the pilgrim realizes his sin, confesses his faults and receives the grace and pity of the Lord.

In such a context, the encounter with the Holy City should start from the Mount of Olives, more precisely from the Sanctuary of Dominus Flevit, the place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem, deaf and blind to the Saviour and the symbol, for this reason, of our insensitivity: "If this day you only knew what makes for peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes. (Luke 19:41-44).

Refusing Christ meant war and destruction for Jerusalem.

The pilgrim comes with an attitude of devotion

The pilgrim who comes to Jerusalem to pray and adore the Lord, confides in the fact that his prayer in the Holy Sepulchre will be particularly effective.

In this, the pilgrimage is a call and a preparation for prayer and can therefore take on various forms:

• praise and adoration for the Lord for his goodness and holiness,
• respect for the Holy Places sanctified by the presence of Jesus and the Virgin Mary,
• gratitude for the gifts received (as a reason or a hope that gives a meaning to our lives),
• the request for grace necessary to live well
• invocation of divine pardon for sins committed or simply to carry out a vow.

The symbolic place of prayer will be the Gethsemane, an intense and difficult plea as was that of Jesus: “He was in such agony and he prayed so fervently that his sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground.” (Luke 22:44)

The pilgrim comes in an attitude of listening to the word of the Lord

A fundamental experience of the pilgrim must also be listening, because “the word of the Lord [shall go forth] from Jerusalem” (Is 2:3).

The Holy Land is an integral part of the process of understanding the historic word of God, who impressed his tent in Jacob and took the inheritance of Israel, which became established in Zion, putting down roots in the midst of a glorious nation.

This word was converted into the Jewish flesh of Jesus and became Gospel, destined to spread, “starting from Jerusalem”, to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). All the territories of the Holy Land form the “geography of salvation” where God, through his son Jesus, made its history. The Holy Land is, according to the expression coined by Renan, the Fifth Gospel.

In the Holy Land, the pilgrim is in a privileged position to listen to the word of God, as these are the places where the word took shape. Paul VI said that the Holy Places are “the school where understanding the life of Jesus begin, or the school of the Gospel”, because they let the Christian make direct contact with the environment where “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). In the Holy Land the Gospel itself has a different echo.

The words of the “Russian pilgrim” fit both ancient and modern pilgrims: he said “by the Grace of God I am a man and a Christian, by my deeds a great sinner, by condition the humblest of pilgrims, a homeless person who wanders from place to place. My only property is a bag slung over my shoulder with a little dry bread, and under my shirt I carry the Holy Bible. I have no other belongings” (Diary of a Russian pilgrim).

The Bible thus has to be every pilgrim's principal guide.

 

On his return home, the pilgrim becomes an evangelizer, a spokesman of the “Gospel of the Holy Land”– as Jesus and his disciples did when they travelled down the roads of Palestine announcing the gospel of salvation – he will be an “itinerant messenger of Christ”, repeating like Peter and John “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20).

 

The pilgrim comes ready to meet Christ alive in the Eucharist

If the Bible is the pilgrim's book par excellence, 
“the Eucharist is the bread that feeds him on his way”.

The celebration of the Eucharist accompanies the various stages of the pilgrimage, because it has to reflect the Paschal events of the Exodus, but above all the Easter of Christ, at the end of his long journey towards the cross and glory.

It is only in this way that the pilgrimage will bear its fruits.

As John Paul II also said, “Each pilgrim, at the end of his journey in which his ardent heart aspires to see the face of God, is called to recognize the Saviour …in the shared bread”.

Hence the ardent desire of the Pope to visit the Cenacle “to celebrate the Eucharist.

It was here that Jesus instituted the ministerial Priesthood… In this holy place he promulgated the new commandment of love. I wanted to return as the successor of Peter, to the sources of the Church, in the place of the Last Supper and the First Eucharist”.

This place was sadly forbidden to Christians with the expulsion of the friars from Mount Sion, in 1551, and even today the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible there.

The pilgrim comes ready to meet Christ in his brothers

Like the disciples of Emmaus who, thanks to their charitable insistence, received the gift of seeing Christ risen: “As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther.But they urged him, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over."So he went in to stay with them. ” (Luke 24:28-29), the pilgrim will also obtain the fruits of his journey only if it is animated by charity.

Charity is revealed first of all as God's love: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.” (I John 4, 11)

Charity must therefore be put into practice during the journey, helping those in need, sharing food, time and hope.

Charity is also practiced in offerings to the poor and in helping invalid pilgrims.

The primitive Christian community had “only heart” and St. Paul helped “the poor of Jerusalem” making a collection for them.

It is only with these attitudes of the soul that the pilgrim will have the chance to meet Christ in the Holy City.

This encounter is the very reason of the journey to Jerusalem, as well as the dream of every Christian. Only this way can we return to the roots of Christian life.

The Holy Sepulchre of Christ: the destination of the Christian pilgrimage

Christianity is not linked to any country or place in particular, but is based on a historical revelation and just as there exists a “history of salvation” there also exists a “geography of salvation”: the Holy Land.

This is how Paul VI described it: “The land where our fathers in faith once lived; the land in which the voice of the prophets echoed, the prophets who spoke in the name of God, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and above all the land which the presence of Jesus has made blessed and sacred for the whole of the human race”.

It is “the land of Jesus, the spiritual heritage of all Christians who desire visiting it at least once in their lifetime.”

Therefore, for every Christian, Jerusalem is the heart of the Holy Land, the synthesis of the action of God for the good of the whole of humanity.

For us as Christians, it represents the geographical point of union between God and men, between eternity and history.  The preaching, passion and resurrection of Jesus, the Last Supper, the gift of the Spirit to the Church, the foundations of our faith are rooted forever, like rocks, on the luminous hills of the Holy City.

How many times has its name echoed in the historical books, in the Psalms, in the Prophets and in the Gospels! Jerusalem, always loved and desired, disparaged and lamented, trodden on and resuscitated, reproached, consoled and glorified. It is really a most unique city in the world!”

The centre of Jerusalem is the Holy Sepulchre.

This is where the salvific presence of God is revealed in a very special way, as is his love for all men. In the words of Paul VI, it is the “most beautiful sanctuary that exists for the heart of a Christian." In fact, the passion, death and resurrection of Christ have always been the central mystery of Christianity and what gives a meaning to our life, with the liturgy that celebrates them on the three days of Good Friday, Easter Saturday and the Sunday of Resurrection. The primitive Christian community, here in the Holy City, commemorated them in three different places:

• the Calvary, the place of the passion and the answer to the problem of human grief
• Adam's Grotto, the place that commemorates the descent of Christ to the kingdom of the dead and the meaning of our death as separation and suffering
• the Empty Tomb, the place of the victory of Christ over death and the tangible sign of Christian hope

It is only in the Holy Sepulchre that the land becomes liturgy and the salvific act becomes concrete in time and space. In many countries, the liturgy says “Today Christ is risen,” but it is only in Jerusalem that we can say “Christ is risen from this tomb” or “He was crucified in this Calvary.”

The Holy Sepulchre is the echo of the “good news” which is at the basis of all the rest: Jesus died, proof of his infinite love for men and was then resurrected as we will be resurected for Christ, with Christ and in Christ. This announcement explains better the reasons why pilgrims come to Jerusalem; it explains why we celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ and why we profess our faith in a future resurrection of man.

It was exactly two thousand years ago that everything began, when some fishermen from Galilee went around saying that Jesus had died, was resurrected and that they had seen him. It is on this fragile and incredible testimony that everything is based: churches, cathedrals, the priesthood, missions, religious, Councils and theology.

The Empty Tomb is the kilometer zero from which all the roads in the world start from, “the navel of the world” as our ancestors called it, the center of our history.

 

Pilgrims who come to Jerusalem do everything they can to visit the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest place in Christianity, as soon as possible. On arriving in the Holy City, pilgrims repeat the words of the Psalm “I rejoiced when they said to me: let us go to the House of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1) as they go towards “Christ's Tomb”.

However, not everything is so easy. Today, the Holy Sepulchre of Jesus is in the middle of the buildings of the Old City, surrounded by markets, souvenir shops and minarets. Pilgrims wonder where the hill, the garden and the tomb are, wishing that the principal sanctuary of Christianity stood in majestic isolation from the rest and that natural light illuminated it all, far from the crowd and darkness. They would like peace and quiet around them, but they feel the confusion amongst the five groups that occupy it – the Franciscans, the Greek Orthodox, the Armenians, the Syrians and the Coptic Orthodox – who jealously guard their right of being there. It is actually the only place in the world where love for God is manifested in the clearest and deepest way, but so is the human weakness of wanting to monopolize that same God.

It is therefore important that the pilgrims, who feel bewildered, allow themselves to be embraced by the mystery and understand that like him, thousands of other pilgrims considered it worth risking their lives to adore our Saviour. Only kneeling on the Empty Tomb and forgetting everything that surrounds him, will the pilgrim be able to hear the words of the angel “He is not here! He is risen! Come see the place where the Lord lay.” 

Tekton Ministries Pilgrimage Office
9924 Cedar Ridge Dr.
Carmel, IN 46032
PHONE - (866) 905-3787
FAX - (866) 905-3788
pilgrim@ffhl.org

Location and Dates:

·         Holy Land with Fr. Peter Vasko, OFM – May 8-18, 2013

·         Holy Land with Fr. Peter Vasko, OFM – December 1-11, 2013

·         Holy Land with Fr. Peter Vasko, OFM – May 8-18, 2014

·         Holy Land with Fr. Peter Vasko, OFM – November 26 - December 6, 2014

Please call the pilgrimage office below for more information on these and other possible groups.

Sponsor a Pilgrimage

We will customize a program specifically for your parish or individual needs.

Tekton Ministries Pilgrimage Office
9924 Cedar Ridge Dr.
Carmel, IN 46032
PHONE - (866) 905-3787
FAX - (866) 905-3788
pilgrim@ffhl.org

A Parent's Prayer for Their Children

O Heavenly Father, I commend my children unto Thee. Be Thou their God and Father; and mercifully supply whatever is wanting in me through frailty or negligence. Strengthen them to overcome the corruptions of the world, to resist all solicitations to evil, whether from within or without; and deliver them from the secret snares of the enemy.

Pour Thy grace into their hearts, and confirm and multiply in them the gifts of Thy Holy Spirit that they may daily grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; and so, faithfully serving Thee here, may come to rejoice in Thy presence hereafter. Amen.

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A Prayer for Every Day

My Lord God, grant that nothing in this world might be as important to me as You are, and for Your sake, grant that I may serve you with deep humility and love; caring little for recognition and honor.

I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain when or where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust You always. Though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Take me Lord and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. You have given it all to me. To You I return it. Everything is Yours; dispose of it according to Your will. Give me only Your love and Your peace and Your thirst for souls. That is enough for me. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit I pray. Amen.

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Act of Adoration and Reparation to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament

I. I ADORE Thee profoundly, O my Jesus, in Thy sacramental form; I acknowledge Thee to be true God and true Man, and by this act of adoration I intend to atone for the coldness of so many Christians who pass before Thy churches and sometimes before the very tabernacle in which Thou art pleased to remain at all hours with loving impatience to give Thyself to Thy faithful people, and do not so much as bend the knee before Thee, and who, by their indifference proclaim that they grow weary of this heavenly manna, like the people of Israel in the wilderness. I offer Thee in reparation for this grievous negligence, the Most Precious Blood which Thou didst shed from Thy five wounds, and especially from Thy sacred Side, and entering therein, I repeat a thousand times with true recollection of spirit:

O Sacrament most holy!
O Sacrament divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving
be every moment Thine.

Our Father...

Hail Mary...

Glory Be...

II. Profoundly I adore Thee, my Jesus; I acknowledge Thy presence in the Blessed Sacrament, and by this act of adoration I intend to atone for the carelessness of so many Christians who see Thee carried to poor sick people to strengthen them for the great journey to eternity, and leave Thee unescorted, nay, who scarcely give Thee any outward marks of reverence. I offer Thee in reparation for such coldness, the Most Precious Blood which Thou didst shed from Thy five wounds and especially from Thy sacred Side, and entering therein I say again and again with my heart full of devotion:

O Sacrament most holy!
O Sacrament divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving
be every moment Thine.

Our Father...

Hail Mary...

Glory Be...

III. Profoundly I adore Thee, my Jesus, true Bread of life eternal, and by my adoration I intend to compensate Thee for the many wounds which Thy Heart suffers daily in the profaning of churches where Thou art pleased to dwell beneath the sacramental veils to be adored and loved by all Thy faithful people; and in reparation for so many acts of irreverence, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood which Thou didst shed from Thy five wounds and especially from Thy sacred Side, and entering therein with recollected spirit I repeat every instant:

O Sacrament most holy!
O Sacrament divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving
be every moment Thine.

Our Father...

Hail Mary...

Glory Be...

IV. Profoundly I adore Thee, my Jesus, the living Bread which cometh down from heaven and by this act of adoration, I intend to atone for all the many acts of irreverence which are committed all the day long by Thy faithful when they assist at Holy Mass, wherein through Thine exceeding love Thou dost renew in an unbloody manner the self-same sacrifice which Thou didst once offer on Calvary for our salvation. I offer Thee in atonement for such base ingratitude the Most Precious Blood which Thou didst shed from Thy five wounds and especially from Thy sacred Side, and entering therein with sincere devotion, I unite my voice to that of the Angels who stand around Thee in adoration, saying with them:

O Sacrament most holy!
O Sacrament divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving
be every moment Thine.

Our Father...

Hail Mary...

Glory Be...

V. Profoundly I adore Thee, my Jesus, true Victim of expiation for our sins, and I offer Thee this act of adoration to atone for the sacrilegious outrages Thou dost suffer from so many ungrateful Christians who dare to draw near to receive Thee with mortal sin upon their souls. In reparation for such hateful sacrileges I offer Thee the last drops of Thy Most Precious Blood, which Thou didst shed from Thy sacred wounds and especially from the wound in Thy sacred Side, and entering therein with a devout heart, I adore Thee, I bless and I love Thee, and I repeat with all the hearts who are devoted to the Blessed Sacrament:

O Sacrament most holy!
O Sacrament divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving
be every moment Thine.

Our Father...

Hail Mary...

Glory Be...

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Advent Peace Prayer

Lord, we know what peace is. Peace is a mother tenderly holding her child. Peace is a firm handshake of trust between friends. Peace is complete emotional security. Peace is living unencumbered with a full sense of joy. Peace is expressing Thanksgiving for concrete blessings.

For the peace gained from the love and memory of spouses and children, we thank you. For the peace gained from the love and memory of parents and grandparents, we thank you. For the peace gained from the kindness and support of friends, we thank you

Peace is elusive. There are raging storms in every life. Tragedy, grief, and pain will visit everyone. Yet, each person's life is graced by moments and periods of real happiness. For these episodes of peace and joy; past, present, & future, we offer our deepest gratitude. Help us to understand that peace must be waged. We must resist the guns, the bombs, "realistic politics," unkind words, personal betrayals, anger, depression, despair, and rage. Give us the strength to overcome these demons. Help us maintain personal power within ourselves, so we can pass this liberating power to others. Give hope and courage to all who struggle with debilitating illness, grief, and loneliness. Help them to understand.. ALL chains WILL be BROKEN. SURSUM CORDA! Lift up your hearts! QUI POTENS EST! God is great!

John Devries

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An Act of Abandonment

O my God, I thank you and I praise you for accomplishing your holy and all-lovable will without any regard for mine. With my whole heart, in spite of my heart, do I receive this cross I feared so much!

It is the cross of Your choice, the cross of Your love. I venerate it; nor for anything in the world would I wish that it had not come, since You willed it.

I keep it with gratitude and with joy, as I do everything that comes from Your hand; and I shall strive to carry it without letting it drag, with all the respect and all the affection which Your works deserve. Amen

St. Francis De Sales

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Blessed are You

Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Wellspring of all that is. You are the sea on which we float, You are the wind that fills our sails, You are the storm that buffets us, You are the calm that brings us peace.

Open our ears to hear Your word, Open our eyes to see Your beauty, Open our hearts to be warmed by Your love. Free us from our lonely prisons of fear and selfishness, And make us over, day by day, into bearers of Your peace.

Richard Rosenberg

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Image of God

Image of God
born of God's breath
vessel of divine Love
after his likeness
dwelling of God
capacity for the infinite
eternally known
chosen of God
home of the Infinite Majesty
abiding in the Son
called from eternity
life in the Lord
temple of the Holy Spirit
branch of Christ
receptacle of the Most High
wellspring of Living Water
heir of the kingdom
the glory of God
abode of the Trinity.
God sings this litany
eternally in his Word.
This is who you are.

a litany of the person - anonymous trappist monk

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Novena to St. Jude

O Holy St. Jude! Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor for all who invoke you, special patron in time of need; to you I have recourse from the depth of my heart, and humbly beg you, to whom God has given such great power, to come to my assistance; help me now in my urgent need and grant my earnest petition. I will never forget thy graces and favors you obtain for me and I will do my utmost to spread devotion to you. Amen St.

Jude, pray for us and all who honor thee and invoke thy aid.

(Say 3 Our Fathers, 3 Hail Marys, & 3 Glory Be)

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Peace Between Neighbors

Peace between neighbors,
Peace between kindred,
Peace between lovers...
Peace between person and person,
Peace between wife and husband,
Peace between woman and children,
The peace of Christ above all peace.

Scots Gaelic Blessing

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Prayer for Aborted Babies

Heavenly Father, Thou hast given us the gift of freedom to love and to follow in Thy ways and commands. Some parents choose to abuse this freedom by destroying the gift of life which Thou hast given to their offspring. Please forgive those who destroy human life by aborting their unborn babies. Give these unborn children the opportunity to enjoy Thee for all eternity, if it according to Thy ordinance. Assist me in being one in solidarity with Thy little ones by taking to heart the words of Thy Son, "whatever you did for one of these least brothers of Mine, you did for Me." (Mt. 25:40) Therefore, allow me today, Father, to adopt spiritually an unborn child and to offer my prayers, works, joys and sufferings for that little one, so that child will be able to be born and live for Thy greater honor and glory. We pray this in Jesus' name, in union with the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever. Amen.

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Prayer for Peace

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who said to Your Apostles, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you,” regard not my sins but the faith of Your Church, and deign to give her peace and unity according to Your Will: Who live and reign, God, world without end. Amen.

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Prayer for Peace # 2

Lord Jesus Christ, We praise You: Bring peace into the world by bringing Your peace into the hearts of all. Help us to turn away from sin and to follow You in love and service. Glory is yours, and honor, For ever and ever. Amen.

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Prayer for Peace # 3

Lord, God of peace, who has created man, the object of your kindness, to be close to you in glory, we bless you and we thank you because you have sent us your beloved son, Jesus, making him the mystery of the pasch, the architect of all salvation, the source of all peace, the bond of true brotherhood. We thank you for the desire, the efforts, the realizations which your spirit of peace has roused in our day: to replace hatred with love, diffidence with understanding, unconcern with care. Open yet more our hearts to the needs of all our brothers and sisters, so that we may be better able to build a true peace.

Remember, Father of mercy, all who are in pain, who suffer and die in the cause of a more brotherly world. For the men of every race, of every tongue, may your kingdom come: your kingdom of justice, of peace, of love; and may the earth be filled with your glory. Amen

(By Pope Paul VI.)

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Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

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Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, fill my heart with Your holy gifts. Let my weakness be penetrated with Your strength this very day that I may fulfill all the duties of my state conscientiously, that I may do what is right and just. Let my charity be such as to offend no one; so generous as to pardon sincerely any wrong done to me. Assist me, O Holy Spirit, in all my trials of life, enlighten me in my ignorance, advise me in my doubts, strengthen me in my weakness, and help me in all my needs, protect me in temptations and console me in afflictions. Graciously hear me, O Holy Spirit, and pour Your light into my heart, my soul, and my mind. Assist me to live a holy life and to grow in goodness and grace. Amen.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy Faithful; and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

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Prayer to St. Joseph for Children

Glorious St. Joseph, to you God committed the care of His only begotten Son amid the many dangers of this world. We come to you and ask you to take under your special protection the children God has given us. Through holy baptism they became children of God and members of His holy Church. We consecrate them to you today, that through this consecration they may become your foster children. Guard them, guide their steps in life, form their hearts after the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

St. Joseph, who felt the tribulation and worry of a parent when the child Jesus was lost, protect our dear children for time and eternity. May you be their father and counselor? Let them, like Jesus, grow in age as well as in wisdom and grace before God and men. Preserve them from the corruption of his world, and give us the grace one day to be united with them in Heaven forever. Amen.

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Prayer of St. Ignatius

Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess You have given me. I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will. Give me only Your love and Your grace; with these I will be rich enough, and will desire nothing more.

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous, teach me to serve you as I should, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and ask not for reward, save that of knowing that I do your most holy will.

St. Ignatius Loyola - 16th century

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FFHL, in its quest to help stem the Christian exodus from the Holy Land, is enrolling students at the Lutheran Federation Vocational Technical School as well as students at the Notre Dame School of Cooking, both located in the Jerusalem area.  Each school offers a two year study program and upon graduation, they will receive a diploma attesting to their skills and expertise in their respective fields.  In addition, in order to further their success, FFHL will give each student their own tool kit based on their particular field so they will be able to immediately secure work in their communities. 

“We are supremely proud of this new endeavor,” exclaimed Fr. Pizzaballa, OFM, Chairman of FFHL.  “It now gives an opportunity, as well as hope, to these young Christian students who have different gifts and capabilities which in the end will prove beneficial for them and the Christian community.”

The Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land is very excited about the first FFHL students who will be graduating June of 2012. They will receive their certificates of expertise in the various fields of training.

Fr. Pizzaballa, Chairman of FFHL further stated that “We must continue to open all avenues of work for the Christian youth especially those who have graduated from high school in order to give them opportunities for higher education whether it be on a college level or at a vocational school level. Each will provide them a means of securing future employment and thus giving them hope.”

Since 1997, FFHL has given full university scholarships to over a 177 students who were economically marginalized but had strong academic talent. The Franciscan Foundation pays for 4 years of college including tuition and books. Hence, through the generosity of Christians in the U.S., FFHL is holding the ‘educational doors of opportunity’ open for the Christian community in the Holy Land.

PROGRAM GROWTH

Since 1997, FFHL has given over $3.5 million in both university and special educational grants to marginalized Christian students.

More and more opportunities will be available for our young people in the future if they can graduate from the university. 

2011 Scholarship Recipients	2010 Scholarship Recipients
2009 Scholarship Recipients	2008 Scholarship Recipients
2007 Scholarship Recipients	2006 Scholarship Recipients
2004 Scholarship Recipients	2003 Scholarship Recipients
2002 Scholarship Recipients	2001 Scholarship Recipients
2000 Scholarship Recipients

Where are they Now?

Khader Dowani

Mary Kattou'a

Rudy Hendal

Juamana O. Samara

Jack Amer

Shadi Kort, Shadi Di’des, Rozeen Hajjar

Grace Jilleh

Fotel Micke

Victoria Gabriel Zreineh

Vicky Zoumot

Victor Maher Ammar

Shehadeh Habash

Ramzi Sleiby

Niveen Rofa

 "All I want to do is go to school" 
Click here for an interview with local scholarship students.


 Goals of the Foundation . . . 

To provide academic scholarship's for talented but underprivileged Christian students. Initially, the program aspired to award 75 full scholarships and 50 partial scholarships for a total of $1,000,000. This goal was reached in 2005.

 Current Statistics . . .

1. Presently we have sponsored over 147 students in various universities in the Holy Land with an investment of over 1.6 million dollars. 
2. The year 2008 saw the sixth graduating class of the Foundation's sponsored scholars - over 65% have found professional employment! Of the remaining, most are young women who chose to get married and raise families. 


 Support a Student . . .

The Foundation has been able to provide excellent opportunities for Christian students in the Holy Land through the generosity of people like you. But there are still many more students who need our help! A full scholarship for 4 years is $24,000 ($6,000 a year).

You can sponsor a student by donating any amount! Just click here and specify scholarship funds for your gift! 

The Holy Land suffers from many challenges from the current situation which has led to drastic numbers of unemployment stemming from a lack of tourism and pilgrims in the Holy Land. Currently, 70% of Palestinian Christians are Unemployed!

It is a constant goal of the Franciscans to provide opportunities to keep Christians employed. The Franciscan Press based at St. Savior's Monastery in Jerusalem has been an avenue to provide some employment for the struggling Christians. The Franciscans continue to employ them at 70% of their wage even when there has been no work.

The housing projects funded by the generosity of donors through the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land have helped to curb unemployment. The Andon Construction Company, owned by Jack Andon, a Palestinian Christian in Bethlehem, employs Christian workers in the construction of these projects.

Production of olive wood products handmade in the Holy Land has drastically
decreased. There has been very little work for over 3 years now.

Excerpts from "A Pilgrim's Perspective" - a reflection by Lois Conwell:

"From the moment that we arrived, I was completely at ease. Whether it was the staff at the Christmas Hotel, or our guide, Fr. Adam Civu, we were always treated like family.

Everywhere we went, we were introduced to people simply as pilgrims from the U.S. We were showered with hugs, handshakes and blessings, and without exception, they all said, "Please, pray for us." However, their stores and businesses are closed - due to a lack of business and tourism. Most of them, especially the Palestinian Christians, are just barely hanging on, with no support from the government. These are a very strong, proud people, that don't want handouts or charity but a chance to earn a living and remain in their homes. Yet for most, their livelihood depends on tourism -and there is so very little. How it broke my heart to see a priest begging outside his church or to hear an elderly man ask, "Why does your President support only Israel…can't he see what is happening here!"

The situation is extreme and urgent! The Franciscans are doing everything they can to help the severe unemployment problem but they need help . . . your help!

You can reach out to these Palestinian Christians by helping the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land:

• fund new housing projects employing many Christians
• support the production of handmade olive wood products
• contacting us if there is anyone you may know or a contact that could help provide jobs for your brother and sister Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land

One of the projects that was recently completed involved a family of four whose bathroom and kitchen were in bad shape.  For just $3500, they were able to replace old tile, rusted water and sewage pipes, broken fixtures and the floor in the bathroom as well as install new kitchen cabinets. 

Sr. Maria goes on to say, “Life in this part of the world is far from normal, hard to predict and almost impossible to plan ahead.  It is determination that leads us to keep working for a better tomorrow and a better future for our Christian families.  We owe them this. ”It will only be through the continued support of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land that these goals will be accomplished.
                                                                                                                       

Kitchen Before	Kitchen After

FSSO provides a lot of networking, so as to increase coordination, cooperation and effectiveness. Cooperation among governmental, nongovernmental and local community sectors guarantees better results. It has been the best way to avoid duplication of services while, at the same time exchanging resources and experience. It also assists greatly in easing huge medical costs that FFSO cannot afford.

Father Custos, Chairman of FFHL stated that, “Such humanitarian aid for the poor is a Godsend, and that is what FFHL is all about – helping others!”

This organization has 4 goals needing financial support:

• Monthly assistance and allowances for elderly, widows, and families in special need
• Medical and pharmaceutical assistance
• Utilities Invoices and food coupon aid
• Education

Samira is a young mother of two children. Her family is very poor with her husband providing the only income. She presently has cancer and last year she had heart surgery. Samira is living with her family in a very poor house in Bethlehem not far from the Church of the Nativity. Due to her health conditions and the difficulties of the Palestinian health system, treatment was available only at a private hospital. Her family was not able to pay for such treatment, which cost $5300.00. Samira went to the social worker of the FSSO who was able to find funding for her surgery from the public health care system.

Elizabeth is an elderly widow living alone. Three of her children live abroad and two of them are still in school. She is both intelligent and educated, speaking several languages. When she was young, she had a good job, but now, due to the lack of a retirement system in Palestine, Elizabeth is without anything. She is old, sick and alone and is living on a small amount of money sent by her daughter. The humidity in her poorly constructed home makes her symptoms worse. She has no money to pay for her medicines, and of course no money to fix her house. FFHL is now covering the expenses without which she would not survive.

Mary is strong. She is still a fairly active seventy year old woman who has suffered many difficulties in her life. She and her husband together had four children, but she has now been a widow for a long time. One of their children, whose death has never been fully explained, died in a shooting incident in the U.S.. Two of their children now live in the U.S., one of which never keeps in contact with his mother while his sister is able to send $200-$300 each trimester to her mother. She is presently renting a house and is living with her other son, who is unfortunately, mentally disabled. Regrettably, Mary is unable to pay the rent so she came to FSSO as her only option.

Rising prices and unemployment are creating more and more poverty, thus increasing the requests for help in our office. Thanks to your contributions, and to the intense commitment of staff and volunteers, this year during Holy Week we were able to provide some relief to the poor and needy here in Bethlehem. We distributed 50 boxes of food and 50 coupons making meat available to other needy families. In addition, we gave away 150 food coupons, 150 clothing, and 150 coupons for children in economic trouble. There were also contributions for 76 elderly and widows.

The Home is located in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem on Milk Grotto Street., only a few meters away from the birthplace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Home was founded initially in the Franciscan Sisters Home. It was then restored and equipped by the Custody of the Holy Land to embrace children between the ages of 6 and 18, children who were driven away to a world of pain and suffering because of many reasons. Most of these reasons are: being orphaned, divorce, drugs and other social and economic problems that our Palestinian community faces.

For all these reasons put together, there was a need to find a shelter to protect them and keep them safe. Thus, the Home relies on the belief that “The home is not the place where you live, but the place where you are understood.” Therefore, it was essential to state sound strategies based on education in order to achieve the noble goals of the Home.

The mission

The Franciscan Boy Home is an ecclesiastic institute affiliated to the Custody of the Holy Land. It is a non-governmental and non-profitable institute. It looks after Christian children with special needs in Bethlehem governorate and those who suffer from serious social, psychological and economic problems, to provide them a safe and caring shelter and to look after them from the different educational and spiritual sides. Therefore, the Home affords for them a convenient environment that would help them in the process of social adaptation in their life in a natural way. This happens according to sound professional scientific programs in cooperation and coordination with their parents, supervisors and specialists to achieve the best service to this targeted group.

The Home relies in its work and philosophy on the values of respecting the human rights, love and forgiveness according to the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the call of St. Francis of Assisi.

Fr. Amjad Sabbara, Pastor of the Church of the Annunciation, is presently taking a course on the “Family” at John Paul II Pontifical Institute of the “Pontifical Lateran University” in Rome.  He hopes to bring new ideas and skills to help the center. The goal is to help the community of Nazareth by giving them new social skills.  This help will focus on the social needs of Christian families in Nazareth which will develop social skills as well as create new ways and ideas of resolving social problems. One of these “new social skills” is the method of “Coaching”.  It is an innovative way for solving family, adult, teenager and children’s problems within the family.  It can also be used when working with independent businesses by economical and financial counselling to employees.  

“To think differently” is a practical thought process of an institution of learning called, TUT Coaching and Results Ltd. Some thirty individuals from the Nazareth parish have been meeting for the past 6 months with a representative of the coaching company. One of the ways in which the forum decided to reach their potential is to build a Christian Family Center which will provide for the critical needs of the young and old within the family structure. The program encourages the Christians in the Holy Land to “Enhance their lives and those of others.”  The principle goal is to make life more meaningful for all.  “We Christians,” stated Kameel Spanioly, Program Director, “must rebuild our spirits and our souls from within both mentally and spiritually.”

By this time next year, they hope this center will become a valuable vehicle in helping others.  It will host Christian families and pilgrims from around the world to live a unique experience in the town where the first Christian family lived. Our aim is to fix the family defects because the family is the basic cell in society.

  GOOD FAMILY=GOOD SOCIETY

• Cultivate and invest in children everything that is creative, constructive, and industrious.
• Empower and enhance the vision of children towards the concepts of peace, coexistence, and gender equality.
• Expose children to new experiences in their own life, and that of other children living in other parts of the world.

 In Children without Borders, we seek to emphasize the emergence of what we tend to call our “Six C's” Critical Thinking, Creativity, Cooperation, Co-Existence, Commitment and Courage.

Thus Children without Borders seeks to ensure a mental, moral and physical empowerment of children living in the different cites of the Holy Land. Given the political, economical and social circumstances in the Holy Land, children tend to be the most victimized and dispersed. Our program includes children who live within and outside the Apartheid Wall. Its main target is to send children equipped with a wider vision, firm will, and steadfast faith to a time where they become the men of their age; an age where these same children become men who think critically, communicate willingly, co-exist peacefully, act creatively, and cooperate fruitfully.

“I believe that inside each of us, a child most innocently resides. At certain moments in our lives and in the middle of the road, we need others to stand by us, give us support, and even lift us with a sense of a sheltered embrace. Simultaneously, in order to expose our children to the humane significance of peace, benevolence, co-existence, and cooperation, each should take an inner journey that seeks to find the desolate child residing inside. That child who enjoys a fraternity that is free of barriers, an existence free of offense, and a survival free of self-centeredness. By doing so, we will eventually break down all borders that veil the hero child who vigorously inhibits our souls, and thus give pace in the future for Children with Borders to become men without Borders”.                       Fr. Ibrahim Faltas, OFM Director of Children without Borders in Bethlehem.

The program targets children in the Holy Land whose families are affected by housing and living conditions, drug addiction, shattered family relationships and lack of space and cultural facilities. These conditions are prevalent in Jerusalem particularly the Old City and the cities under the Palestinian Authority, mostly enclosed by the Wall.

Children Without Borders provides a safe and educational environment for children after school.  It also provides the opportunity for these children to discover the talent given to them by God. Each month, each of the branches below arranges its own private activities which range from picnics to tournaments, social visits, Championships, participating in local activities…

 Gaza, which presents a very difficult situation especially for children, is now benefiting from CWB programs.  More than 75 children are spending constructive time and receiving soccer training by 3 coaches.  In spite of war, siege, deprivation and persecution, CWB is offering some time of peace, liberty, and love to Gaza children.

 Jericho is CWB’s and Jenin (North) are two new branches where more than 120 children, supervised by 4 coaches are getting training sessions in the Terra Sancta School playground. 

 Jerusalem, the initial branch, including its two sub branches of the Old City and Beit Hanina have more than 300 children and Bethlehem, also an initial branch has over 120 participants with 3 coaches, 3 assistant coaches and various volunteers.

A new program was launched for young girls entitled “the Folkloric Dance Dabkeh” group, which has positioned itself on the national level. Its Football Teams and their other activities all reflect its sacred mission for children, thanks to the sponsorship of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land who is funding and supporting the program. The cost of each child per year is $500.00 which the Custos, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa has asked the Foundation to fund for each of these children. If you would like to contribute to this effort, simply choose the “Children without Borders” fund in the online donation or click here.

This program became a reality several years ago through the vision of Mrs. Faith Libbe, Regional Representative for the Franciscan Foundation in Casselberry, Florida.  “To be able to give a gift that brings joy into a little child’s life at Christmas time and to see the smiles on their precious faces,” said Faith, “makes all the effort involved in raising these funds a true labor of love.” Fr. Marwan, Principal of the Terra Sancta School in Bethlehem, is very appreciative of the support from U.S. Christians towards this Christmas program.  “Giving gifts at Christmas is a joyful encounter but the gift of seeing the beaming eyes of these little marginalized children as they open their presents,” says Fr. Marwan, “is truly a gift from God.”As you sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” this Christmas season, please consider sharing the love and joy of Christmas by participating in the “Bethlehem Christmas Program.”

Capuchin Friars Minor
Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land
Franciscan Cyberspot
Franciscan Friars of the Renewal
Franciscan Press of Quincy University
Franciscan Web Page - Washington Thelogical Union
Franciscans International – An NGO at the United Nations
Franciscans International – North America
Franciscans Third Order Regular - Rome
Knights of Mt. St. Sepulchre
Irish Franciscans, OFM
Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office
OFM - USA Homepage
Order of Friars Minor
St. Francis University
The Franciscan Archive
The Franciscan Experience
The Franciscan Institute - St. Bonaventure University
Secular Franciscans Order - Five Franciscan Martyrs Region

Catholic Resources:

Agenzia Fides
American Catholic
Archdiocese of Washington
Arlington Catholic Herald
Ascencion Press
Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation
Catholic Answers
Catholic Community Forum
Catholic Educator's Resource
Catholic Exchange
Catholic Information Network
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
Catholic News Service
Catholic Online
Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Spot
Catholic Youth Networking
Catholic.net
CatholiCity: Discover the Catholic Church
Catholics United for Faith
Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)
Everything Catholic - Search Engine for Roman Catholics
EWTN
Ignatius Press
Knights of Columbus
Lifeteen.org
National Catholic Register
National Catholic Reporter
New Advent - Home
Pax Christi International
Saint Meinrad School of Theology
Spirit Daily
The Catholic Standard
The Catholic Start Page
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Vatican: the Holy See
Vision Vocation Guide
Working in Faith
Youth Dream
Zenit - The World Seen From Rome

Holy Land Conflict:

The internet is a great resource for getting an accurate picture of what is really happening. There are many websites which present a picture of the conflict. Below are some useful addresses. While we may not agree with everything written in these websites, they are a good source of information on the complexities of the conflict.

History of Modern Christianity in the Holy Land
UNISPAL - The United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine
NGO Network on the Question of Palestine
United Nations - the Question of Palestine
Churches for Middle East Peace
Foundation for Middle East Peace
Gush Shalom
Prominent Jews Writing Articles in Haaretz
Health Development Information and Policy Institute
Jerusalem Times
Jewish Peace Fellowship
Jews Against Occupation
Jews Not Zionists
BBC News
Palestine Monitor
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
World Council of Churches
Visions for Peace and Justice in Israel and Palestine
A Jewish Critique of Politics, Culture, and Society
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Search for Justice and Equality
Jews for Peace in Israel and Palestine
Rabbis for Human rights
Israeli Soldiers Refusing to Serve in West Bank/Gaza
Palestine Media Watch
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Not in Our Name Coalition
Miftah
Middle East Council of Churches
Israeli Reservists Refusing to Serve in West Bank/Gaza
Israeli Human Rights Group
Israeli / Palestinian Dialogue on Political Issues
Bat Shalom - Israeli Women for Peace
Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem
Al Bushra
For Nazareth's Sake

Public Relations Video/DVD

Watch the Foundation's "Crisis in the Holy Land-Rebuilding the Body of Christ" video as seen on EWTN in our video channel. Also, watch our new video about the need for university education. This is also available in DVD format for a small donation. Please email us at info@ffhl.org with your request.

Public Relations - Various Materials

• Current Newsletter
• Foundation in the News Articles
• Ecumenical Support Letters
  • Letter from Bishop Munib A. Younan, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem
  • Letter from +Rt. Rev. Ria Abu El-Assal, bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem.
• Donation Form

Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, ofm

Give your support to the Holy Places, dear to the whole of Christianity and the Christian communities in the Holy Land!

•  By your “prayers” for the Land where Jesus lived; to support the work of the Franciscans of the Holy Land
•  By taking a “pilgrimage” to the Holy Land to discover the places that gave rise to our faith and where we have our roots
•  By “volunteering” your time and efforts to help create awareness and raise funds locally
•  By “contributing” online, or by sending in a check to support the efforts of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land

Please consider one or more of the following opportunities to give of yourself. Below are a number of volunteer activities and awareness programs in which you can participate at any level.

Individual

•  Pilgrimage promotion
•  Refer us to others who might have an interest in the Foundation
•  Distribution of materials: brochures, newsletters, etc.
•  Area meetings

Parish/Community

•  Invitation for Fr. Peter Vasko, OFM to speak about the Foundation
•  Promote religious education programs in your parish incorporating the work of the Foundation
•  Parish bulletin inserts

Local Community

•  Contact secular/religious newspapers, periodicals, magazines, etc.
•  Promote various videos/DVDs/You Tube with friends and relatives
•  Fundraising dinners
•  Walk-a-thons, golf tournaments, etc.

Richard Sontag - PR Director

Kathy Sadlowski - Administrative Asst.

Barbara Nastav - Administrative Asst.

Pilgrimages to the Holy Land are very important for a number of reasons.  As our November 2010 pilgrims can tell you, being in Jerusalem or Galilee gives three-dimensionality to the Bible.  No longer is the synagogue in Capernaum just another building as I read the Gospels.  Now when I read those words I see the large, stone-tile floor, the benches built along the inner walls, now only halfway standing.  I see the Sea of Galilee glimmering at the edge of the town.  It comes alive.

Another reason to someday make a pilgrimage, if possible, is to get in touch with an important part of history.  Archeological sites continue to be discovered and explored, giving our understanding of their way of life a more complete perspective.  Stepping into the Holy Land is like literally stepping into history.  Buildings, some over a thousand years old, still stand.  Cities, one of the oldest on earth (Jericho), can be visited on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem.  Living in a country that is only 234 years old, this gives us an appreciation for antiquity that cannot be found, in the same way, in the United States.

A third reason pilgrimages to the Holy Land are of spiritual value is that they connect us with our Christian brothers and sisters who are currently living there, and are doing so under very difficult situations.  We hear much in the news about the troubles between the Israelis and the Palestinians.  Rarely is it mentioned that the “Palestinians” can be either Christian or Muslim.  The tensions do not exist with the Christian Palestinians as they do with the Muslim Palestinians.  Why?  One simple reason is that the Palestinian Christians are such a minority.  Unfortunately, as that minority, they tend to be persecuted by both Israelis and Muslim Palestinians (some, not all, of course).  This, then, causes even more Christians to leave. 

Pilgrimages to the Holy Land bring us into solidarity with the Christian Palestinians.  We are able to learn more about their lives, their struggles and their efforts to peacefully live in the land where Jesus lived, the land of his birth and theirs.  None of them take it for granted.  By entering into their lives, we begin to see that the threat to Christianity in the Holy Land is not one of guns and bombs.  It’s one of subtle persecution that can be oversimplified as “bullying”.  You won’t see it in the newspapers, but as the November pilgrims can tell you, you’ll hear it firsthand as you visit with families. 

Now, this is not to point fingers, only to recognize that as in the days of St. Paul and the Acts of the Apostles, Christians throughout the world have the responsibility to pray for and support Christians in Jerusalem and it’s surrounding areas.  They need our prayers, our financial support (especially with college-level education) and our help in reinforcing their living situations, rather than letting them simply dissipate into nothingness. 

How can you help?  Prayerfully begin discerning a pilgrimage.  Not gonna happen, at least not in the near future?  How about attending a dinner hosted by The Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land?  The next dinner, with keynote Patrick Madrid (Professor, Catholic Apologist, Author and Publisher), is scheduled for March 12, 2011 in Indianapolis, IN and will be held at the Keystone Crossing Marriot.  The dinner this year is themed: Preserving the Remnant of the Family of Christ.  For more information about this dinner or about the detailed mission of the Franciscan Foundation, please see their website at http://www.ffhl.org  Let us continue to pray for peace in the Holy Land.

We Franciscans continue the legacy of our founder and father, St. Francis of Assisi, who, some 800 years ago was entrusted with protecting the holy sites in this precious land.  We also have a special calling to minister to the indigenous Christians here, those ‘Guardians of Christianity’ who have courageously maintained their faith and heritage over these many centuries in spite of misunderstanding, persecution, discrimination and suffering.

At this time of year, when I am escorting pilgrims through the cramped streets of Jerusalem, or the byways of Nazareth, I am mindful of the challenges facing the dwindling Christian population here in the Holy land.  Their ancestors were Christ’s first followers, and now they are leaving this land in alarming numbers.  I always remind the pilgrims who come here that this is indeed the ‘Cradle of Christianity’ and hence all Christians have a stake in its preservation.  The visitors come to see where Christ walked and hopefully also experience what life is like for His followers today.

To be in Jerusalem on Good Friday is an experience unlike any other.  To join the throngs jamming the Via Dolorosa where Christ carried His cross, to stand for a moment at the first station where Jesus was scourged, crowned, and then condemned to death by Pilate is a moving encounter for any believer.

When leading hundreds of the faithful along the Via Dolorosa, I attempt to make them viscerally aware of what Jesus must have gone through in this agonizing experience;  His blood spilling profusely from His torn body, the agony of carrying a heavy wooden beam in such a weakened state, His repeated falls and the anguished efforts to rise again.  Each time I describe these events for the pilgrims, I find myself experiencing them anew.  Thoughts of anger crowd my mind as I consider the rabble that tormented Him:  those who jeered and laughed at the One who made the blind see and brought the dead back to life.  I tell the pilgrims of the soldiers who constantly beat Him as He carried His cross, the same people who would finally nail him to it.  As we proceed from station to station, in the midst of this sorrowful walk, I can almost hear the words of Jesus in the shuffling steps:  “Forgive them!  Forgive them!”  Hundreds join our reflective march, sharing Christ’s passion on the very ground where it occurred, where history moved and salvation was birthed.  Finally, we reach the climax of the Way of the Cross in an ancient courtyard which gives way to the most revered church in Christendom.

Late in the afternoon on Good Friday, thousand spill from the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  Each year the Franciscans reenact a solemn ceremony where a replica of the body of Jesus is literally taken down from the cross at the very site where Christ was crucified.  After the nails are pulled from the body, it is then placed in a white linen shroud and carried solemnly by four friars to a low, marble slab called the Stone of Unction.  There the body is anointed and then reverently placed in the Tomb.  When those doors of the Sepulcher slam shut there is always a stark silence, despite the crowds.  A profound absence hangs in the air.

I have been honored for many years to be one of the pall bearers transporting the replica of Christ from Calvary to the Sepulcher.  It never fails to move me.  Suddenly time collapses and we are all there; removing Jesus from His cross, preparing the body, and placing Him in the borrowed tomb.  Now as then, there are sniffles and moans, muttered prayers, and sadness on all sides.

Then early on Easter morning, church bells ring throughout the Old City of Jerusalem joyfully proclaiming Christ’s resurrection.  At the Tomb of Christ, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher communal celebrations, services and masses will be offered throughout the day.  It is a day of celebration after a season of penance and suffering.

This year, 2010, the joy of Easter is being shared in common among the Roman Catholics, Greek, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian and Orthodox.  For both the indigenous Christians of this land and for the thousands of visiting pilgrims, Easter is an explosion of joy, a celebration of hope.

Suffering and hope go hand in hand in this great paschal mystery and in the Holy Land itself.  Without the crucifixion, the resurrection would not be possible.  Suffering faithfully embraced is often times the portal to hope and the way to new life.  Entering the sacred Tomb of Christ on Easter Sunday it becomes clear to any visitor that these walls are no longer a container of death, but a witness to the resurrection.  The very site becomes a reinforcement of faith, a bridge to the eternal.  Praying within the cramped chamber that has destroyed, rebuilt, burned and blessed, one is reminded of the words of St. Paul:  death has no victory here, and we too are destine to share in this radical transformation through death to new life.  This is the principal reason why people come from all over the world to the Holy Land:  to be where Christ was and is, to physically situate themselves amid the markers of salvation history, and to rehearse the final pilgrimage to new life that awaits each of us.

Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1978.  After ordination, he studied law at DePaul University and was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1981.

Father Paprocki was appointed Chancellor in March, 1992 under Cardinal Bernardin where he is still retained by Cardinal George.  Pope John Paul II appointed him to serve as Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago in 2003. Bishop Paprocki also serves as the Cardinal’s Liaison for Health and Hospital Affairs in the Archdiocese of Chicago and as Vice-President of the Illinois Catholic Health Association. He is Adjunct Professor of Law at Loyola University Chicago and Chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance. In January 2008, Bishop Paprocki was elected Vice-Chairman of the John Paul II Foundation in Rome.

Bishop Frank Dewane

Bishop Dewane was born in 1950, of devout Irish-Catholics. He attended the University of Wisconsin where he earned a B.S. in Social Sciences. He then earned a M.A. in International Administration from The American University.  After graduation, Bishop Dewane worked for NBC and PepsiCo.

Bishop Dewane began his studies for the priesthood at Notre Dame University, completing his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. In 1988, Bishop Dewane was ordained and appointed to the Diocese of Green Bay as an assistant pastor. He also worked for the diocesan Tribunal.

In 1991 Bishop Dewane became a delegate for the Vatican as a member of the Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations. Bishop Dewane currently serves on the U. S. Catholic Conference of Bishops. On July 25, 2006 Bishop Frank J. Dewane was installed as bishop of the Diocese of Venice in Florida.

Archbishop Dolan was ordained to the priesthood in 1976 and served as associate pastor in Richmond Heights, MO. until 1979 when he began graduate studies in American Church History at the Catholic University of America.

On his return to St. Louis, he served in parish ministry from 1983-87, during which time he was also liaison for the late Archbishop John L. May. In 1987 Archbishop Dolan was appointed to a five-year term as secretary to the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C. When he returned to St. Louis in 1992, he was appointed vice rector of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, serving also as director of Spiritual Formation and professor of Church History.

On June 19, 2001 Fr. Dolan was named the Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis by Pope John Paul II. He was named Archbishop of Milwaukee by His Holiness in June, 2002 and  installed as Milwaukee's 10th archbishop in August where he served until he was appointed Archbishop of New York by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in February, 2009.

But, according to Franciscan Father Peter Vasko, president of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, there is “some light at the end of a very dark tunnel” for the Christian community in Israel and Palestine.

For the priest, that light shines from the 75 percent of Christians who have recently graduated from universities in or around the Holy Land, have secured professional jobs and are able to afford the high cost of housing there.

Father Peter spoke about the plight and the prospects for the Church in the Holy Land during a recent visit to Indianapolis for a Sept. 12 fundraising dinner for the foundation that he leads.

The dinner, at which Eternal Word Television Network personality and author Raymond Arroyo spoke, raised approximately $118,000 for college scholarships for Catholics who live in the Holy Land.

According to a foundation official, the financial support it receives from Indiana donors is second in the United States only to donations from New York.

Father Peter said that supporting the college education of young Christian adults in the Holy Land is key to maintaining the Church’s presence there.

“They can’t pay for education [or for housing] because they don’t have a job,” he said. “With an education, they’re not only able to support their families, but they can also purchase or rent a modest apartment in Bethlehem or Jerusalem or Nazareth.”

Catholics from the United States and elsewhere who go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land are also important, Father Peter said, in part for the economic boost that such travel brings, but, perhaps more importantly, for the moral support it provides for the people.

“There’s nothing like moral support,” Father Peter said. “The greatest moral support [Catholics in the United States] can give is by coming on pilgrimage and being with these people, and talking with these people and understanding where they’re coming from.”

That is what happened to Msgr. Paul Koetter, pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Indianapolis, through his travels with the foundation.

He has gone on two foundation-organized pilgrimages in 2006 and 2008. Prior to that, he spent 11 weeks in the Holy Land while on sabbatical in 2003.

“[The foundation] kind of opened a door to something that I was kind of oblivious to,” Msgr. Koetter said. “I think the foundation has just made me much more aware of their plight and the real concern of the Church being lost to that environment.”

Msgr. Koetter said his travels to the Holy Land have enriched his life of faith and his priestly ministry.

“It’s been tremendously helpful because it makes the Scriptures so much more alive,” he said. “It creates a tangible connection with Christ. When you have seen the land and you can geographically place things, what is said in the Scriptures starts to make a lot more sense.

“All those things really do impact how you view the Scriptures and, therefore, how relate to Christ, I think.”

Another pilgrim who gave moral support to Catholics in the Holy Land, according to Father Peter, was Pope Benedict XVI, when he traveled there from May 8-15 of this year.

Father Peter said the Catholics in the Holy Land were especially encouraged by Pope Benedict’s call to various Catholic institutions to support the Church there.

“The people are a lot more hopeful after his visit, knowing that there is something concrete that’s there that’s going to help them in their life,” Father Peter said.

Catholics living in the Holy Land need help, in part, because of the discrimination they experience from both the Israeli and Palestinian military forces.

“The militant Muslims look upon the Christians as pro-West and traitors to the Islamic cause,” Father Peter said. “And the Israeli military looks at them as Palestinians and, hence, the enemy.

“ … [And] you have discrimination on both sides in the political and economic arena. They’re the ones who are caught in the middle. Without any help, they’ll want to leave and get out of the situation.”

But Father Peter said that Catholics in the Holy Land are able to persevere under such difficult circumstances, in large part, because of their faith that they see vindicated in the support they receive.

“Faith is the recurring theme of why our people are still there,” Father Peter said. “They trust in the Almighty.

“Some of their trust has proven positive because look at what the foundation is doing. They can’t afford a college education, but they’re getting a college education. They’re getting jobs. And we’re building housing for our people.”

During the Mass, Bishop Dewane, the present bishop of the Diocese of Venice told the faithful attending the Mass, which swelled to over a thousand people, the many blessings that this diocese has received through Bishop Nevins’s presence.  His motto, “To Serve with Mercy” was constantly being implemented by Bishop Nevins during his tenure.

In 1994, when the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land was founded, Bishop Nevins was a frequent pilgrim to the Holy Land and knew about the plight of our indigenous Christians. He was eventually asked to serve on our board and gladly accepted.  His valued advice and input has made FFHL what it is today.   Recently, Bishop Nevins stepped down from the board and now has an ‘emeritus’ status. His Excellency, Bishop Dewane has graciously agreed to be on the board and to further assist the work of the foundation.

Fr. Pizzaballa, the Custos and Chairman of FFHL, praised Bishop Nevins “as a spiritual leader who loved his people but especially the young people of the Holy Land.  We will miss him.”

In the early 1990s, the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land began working to preserve Christians in the Holy Land by specializing in programs to retain their presence.

These programs are all funded by donations, particularly the Memorial Hall Project at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Through this project, Christians from around the world are able to leave a lasting legacy in the town of Jesus’ birth. More importantly, they will be assisting Christians in the Holy Land.

With financial assistance from donations, the Franciscan Foundation has begun several programs focusing on education. Fr. Pizzaballa, Chairman of the Franciscan Foundation and Custos of the Holy Land, has consistently stressed the importance of education, particularly higher education for the Christian youth. It is his firm belief that with a college degree, students will have a better chance of securing employment and becoming a more productive member of society.

In 1997, the Franciscans began offering the College Scholarship Program to provide a free four-year college scholarship to Christians who show academic potential, but cannot afford higher education. To date, over 130 scholarship grants totaling 1.4 million dollars have been given to Christians in the area.

Proceeds from the Memorial Hall Project also assist in helping Christians find employment in the Holy Land. Currently, the majority of Christians in the region look to the tourism industry for employment. Many work as guides for pilgrims or provide transportation while others work as hotel managers or shop owners. Unfortunately, with the decline of pilgrimages to the Holy Land, the unemployment rate has skyrocketed leaving 70% of the region’s Christians unemployed.

It is difficult for Christians to find places to live due to the high unemployment and high rent. To assist them, the foundation has raised money to build nearly 300 housing units in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Jericho and Nazareth. They already have future plans to build 400 more homes and a shopping center.

Finally, the foundation also provides economic assistance for all Christians regardless of age so they can live with full dignity and hope. The Franciscans offer humanitarian programs to provide furniture for homes, medical assistance for families, clothes, blankets, food supplies, diapers and toys for young children.

They also offer family counseling, child education, marriage counseling, a home for children, etc.

Archbishop Pietro Sambi was in Indianapolis earlier this month to participate in a fundraising dinner sponsored by the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land (FFHL) in support of the Franciscan Boys Home in Bethlehem. (Related: Interview with the nuncio)

More than 230 people attended the May 3 dinner, which was held at the Meridian Hills Country Club in Indianapolis.

Archbishop Sambi, who is a special adviser to the national board of the FFHL, supports the foundation’s work, in part, because he spent more than seven years in the Holy Land while serving as the Holy See’s apostolic nuncio to Israel and apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine.

He has served at the apostolic nuncio to the United States since 2005.

A large majority of the people who attended the function have made pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar general, spoke during the program about how a large number of archdiocesan Catholics support the Church in the Holy Land through the FFHL.

“This is a cause that is traveling around the country,” he said. “I think that our local Indianapolis group has done a tremendous job. We, here in Indiana, we want to be supportive. We want to be part of this.”

Franciscan Father Peter Vasko, president of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, also remarked on the growth of the foundation in Indianapolis and how people here are supporting the home in Bethlehem, where young boys who come from families troubled by substance abuse, alcoholism or child abuse can live while attending a nearby Franciscan-run school.

“Seeing that they’re being helped psychologically and from an educational standpoint is just absolutely wonderful,” said Father Peter. “What did Jesus say? ‘Let the children come unto me.’ We have to help these young people who have nowhere to turn, especially in the town of Bethlehem, where there’s so much negativity, so many conflicts, still as we speak today.”

In his presentation at the dinner, Archbishop Sambi said that “the Holy Land is not a foreign land for us.

“As Christians, we were all spiritually born in the grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem. And as a member of the Church, we all emerged from the cenacle, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, with the mandate to continue the mission of Christ in the world.”

Archbishop Sambi emphasized how the Holy Land makes our faith in Christ tangible.

“The holy places are like a fifth gospel, which make our profession of faith more concrete,” he said. “They help us to understand that Jesus Christ is not a ghost, but a real person: son of God and son of Mary, our Savior who walked the Earth as we do. They help us to understand the human redemption by the work of Jesus Christ is not a legend but an historical event.”

He also spoke about how the Holy Land, and Bethlehem in particular, are important for him.

“For 40 years, I have moved among the continents of the world representing the Holy Father,” Archbishop Sambi said. “I have not found another place in the world where I felt God so close as when I knelt [at] the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem.”

Msgr. Paul Koetter, pastor of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis, also spoke at the dinner. He has traveled three times to the Holy Land: once while on sabbatical and twice while helping lead pilgrimages of St. Monica parishioners there.

His presentation at the dinner was a spiritual reflection on one of those pilgrimages.

“In this land, Jesus walked. And now, we have walked,” said Msgr. Koetter. “We have seen the water that he saw, walked the hills that he walked, felt the breeze that he felt. We have visited the sites of miracles, the sites of sermons, the places of relaxation.

“We have experienced the conflicted reality of Jerusalem. We have felt the heaviness in our hearts at the Crucifixion. We have experienced his land, but we also experience him in our midst.”

Archbishop Sambi said that the spiritual vitality of the Holy Land is, in large part, due to the fact that a living Church still exists there, a Church that is a small minority, and one that needs support from other believers to persevere.

“This … is because around the holy places there is a community of Christians who believe, who love and who hope,” Archbishop Sambi said. “If the day would come—I pray to the Lord that it will never happen—that there would be no Christians in the Holy Land, even those most holy places would become like a cold museum from which you go out as you enter.” †

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who as apostolic nuncio to the United States is Pope Benedict XVI’s ambassador to America and the Holy See’s liaison to the Church in this country, visited Indianapolis on May 3.

The archbishop’s primary reason for coming to Indiana was to participate in a fundraising dinner sponsored by the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land to support a home for boys in Bethlehem. (Click here for related story)

The residents are students at a nearby Franciscan-run school. They come from families where they have experienced physical abuse or where their parents are substance abusers or suffer from alcoholism.

Archbishop Sambi has a particular interest in the Church in the Holy Land because he served on the staff of the Holy See’s nunciature there in the early 1970s, and later as nuncio to Israel and Palestine from 1998 to 2005.

In addition to serving in the Holy Land and the United States, Archbishop Sambi, in his nearly 40 years of ministry as a Vatican diplomat, has been assigned to Indonesia, Burundi, Cameroon, Cuba, Algeria, Nicaragua, Belgium and India.

Prior to the fundraising dinner, the globe-trotting archbishop, born in northern Italy, sat down for an interview with The Criterion.

Q: Having served as the Holy See’s ambassador to Israel and Palestine for several years, how do you judge from your experience the importance of the work of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land in supporting the Church there?

A: The work of the Franciscans is extremely precious. During my 12 years in the Holy Land, I could measure the preciousness of the presence and the work of the Franciscans.

Being animated by the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, they are there as an instrument of peace. They repeat every day the prayer of St. Francis, “Make me an instrument of peace. Where there is hatred, make me put love.”

But they are also the supporter of the Christian community. The biggest parishes are in the hands of the Franciscans: Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jerusalem. But they care about the Christian community in other aspects: schools, homes for elders, homes for abandoned children or who have families in difficulties, as the boys’ home that they are building now in Bethlehem. …

So it’s a presence that’s indispensable for the continuity of the Christian community in the holy places and around the sanctuary of Christianity.

Q: And now, having served as the apostolic nuncio in the United States for more than two years, how do you judge the importance of the support given to the foundation by Catholics in this country?

A: Next year, it will be 40 years that I will have been abroad representing the Holy Father in all parts of the world. Everywhere, I have found signs of the charity of the Catholics of America and of the American people.

As to the Holy Land, the supporters of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land are mainly from the United States.

But I would say that the help that can be given to the Holy Land are two kinds. One is financial contributions so as to help the Franciscans to [preserve] two things: the sacred stones and the living stones [a reference to 1 Pt 2:4-5].

The sacred stones are the places linked to the life of Jesus Christ and of our redemption. The living stones are the Christian community in the Holy Land.

But there is another way to be of help to the living stones.

It’s pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

When the small minority of Christians in the Holy Land see a lot of pilgrims going there, they say to themselves, “It’s very important for us to stay here if so many people from around the world come here.”

And they feel a kind of psychological support, human support to continue to stay there as guardians, in the name of all Christianity, around the places that are sacred to the Christian people.

Q: Our archdiocese is sponsoring a pilgrimage to the Holy Land that will be led, God willing, by Archbishop [Daniel M.] Buechlein in September.

A: I pray that his health will be good enough because it will be an experience to go with your archbishop to the birthplace of Jesus Christ, but also to the birthplace of the Church.

Q: What would you say is the most important thing for Catholics here to know about the current state of the Church in the Holy Land?

A: It would be interesting to know the history. The Franciscans have given up their lives for the defense of … the holy places.

But I will tell you one case of which I have been a witness. When the Basilica of the Nativity was occupied in 2001 inside by the Palestinian soldiers and outside by the Israeli soldiers, I had a great preoccupation, that the place of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, would be covered by human blood and by the destruction of one of the most ancient basilicas that exists in the world. It dates from the time of the emperor Constantine and was built by his mother, Helen.

At a certain moment, the Franciscans asked me, “Should we remain here at the danger of our lives?” I did not feel courage enough to take the responsibility for their lives. So I put myself in communication with the Holy Father, [Pope] John Paul II.

And his answer was, “I cannot impose on anybody to be a martyr. But tell them that if they will remain, I will pray every day for them.” And the Franciscans remained.

Q: It has been said that the Church in the Holy Land is caught between a hammer and an anvil in the difficult conditions brought about for it, on the one hand, by the Israeli government and, on the other, by Palestinian leaders, both in Gaza and the West Bank. Do you think this is a valid characterization?

A: This is always the condition of minorities. The Christian community is a minority in the Holy Land in relation to the Israeli people and to the Palestinian people. And they receive problems from both sides.

I am convinced also of another thing: that love is stronger than any racial difference or than any conflict. …

Maybe the small Christian community in the Holy Land must take more courage and be more faithful to the commandment of God, of the Lord, to love even their enemies, to become a more efficient instrument of peace.

It’s true that it is in a very difficult situation from the Israeli side, and from the Palestinian and Islamic side. But we should never lose hope for peace because the day we say that peace is impossible, we will put ourselves like this [crossing his arms across his chest] and any creativity will be lost.

So, despite all the difficulties, we have to encourage the Christians to remain there and to work for peace.

Q: How can the Church in the United States and, perhaps, the United States government, help improve that situation for the Church there? It’s almost, as with the Church in Iraq, that the Church there is off to the side. It’s such a small minority that it’s not even thought of.

A: When speaking with the people in the Holy Land, their way of reasoning was this: “We were born here. We will continue to stay here. But what future is there here for our children?”

And then the answer is emigration. Why emigration? Because there is not a perspective of stable peace and a stable economic situation. And you cannot program your future where you don’t have the perspective of peace and the perspective of a stable economic situation.

What should be done is to create conditions of peace and to create the condition of a stable economic situation—because without this the young people will continue to emigrate.

The Church should contribute to this peace. But the reasons of peace, the way of peace, the means of peace are in the hands of political authorities. †

“For some time we have had this project” – recounted Fr. Amjad Sabbara, O.F.M., pastor of the parish – “because of the situation of immobility that the people of Bethlehem know, we have tried to multiply activities available to the faithful, and in this way help them to be more active. The Catholic Action center (managed by lay faithful who are members of the parish) already participates in this effort. The new building’s principle objective is to encourage the meeting of the families and of the youth around sports and its values, as a place of growth and socialization.

After the visit to the Catholic Action of Delfina Gomez Perez, a Spanish benefactress of the Holy Land enamored with Bethlehem, I suggested this project. Enthusiastically, she decided to finance 50% of the project! From then on, encouraged by this providential gift and helped by other benefactors, the Custody did the rest. Work began in November of 2004, six months after the visit of Mrs. Gomez Perez, and finished this past April 10th.

The inauguration date was chosen in order to permit the Franciscans of the Holy Land, gathered at the Chapter in Bethlehem since June 3rd, to take part in it. It is an occasion for the faithful of the city to discover the solidarity, closeness, and solicitude of all of the Friars of the Custody, which is a part of their mission commitment, regardless of where they reside in the world. It is also an opportunity for the Friars who aren’t involved in a direct apostolate towards the local community to see one of the realizations of the Custody, and to unite themselves with the joy of those to whom this project is dedicated.

The center is opened to Christians of all denominations in the town, but also to those of nearby towns, including Beit Sahur and Beit Jala. Currently there are 280 members of the gym and 350 members of other sports activities at the center. For the inauguration, the Father Custos, after uncovering the traditional plaque, blessed the building by walking throughout the center. For those who participated in this it was a splendid occasion to discover the excellent sports equipment, and even to try some of it out. Then, in the gym there was a speech of thanksgiving, as well as other speeches, given by the president of Catholic Action, by the pastor, by the Treasurer of the Custody, and by the Sports Minister of the Palestinian Authority, representing the Bethlehem government. Then a basketball game was played between the “De la Salle” team of Jerusalem and the Catholic Action’s Bethlehem team. It was notable that the Bethlehem team made the first basket. The youth remained at the center late into the afternoon, and even then wanted to remain longer.

Catholic Action is already for them a meeting place. They say that the sports center is “A dream that has become reality. Custody of the Holy Land, thank you.”

The new building, which was inaugurated today on the property that has already been dedicated to Catholic Action and to parish activities, is a three story structure on 1,300 square meters, where several different kinds of sports are played. This new building comes out of the necessity to reinforce the Christian presence in Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahur, especially as a consequence of the uncertainties resulting from the construction of the wall, totally closing the Territories.

Printed with permission from CTS

ROME — Despite their often troubled relationship, the Vatican and Israel resumed high-level negotiations aimed at settling disputes over property, taxes and the legal status of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land.  It was the first such meeting in five years.

Both sides, in a joint statement, praised an atmosphere of "great cordiality, mutual understanding and goodwill" that produced "important progress" in resolving long-standing issues. Members of the delegations, however, said serious disagreement remained.

'Work to be done'

"Today we achieved a significant bit, but there is a lot, lot more work to be done," said Father David-Maria Jaeger, an Israeli-born Franciscan friar who has served as one of the Vatican's key negotiators.

Israel and the Holy See established formal diplomatic ties in 1994, based on a "fundamental agreement" signed the previous year, after centuries of bad blood and ignorance between the Catholic and Jewish faiths.  Relations improved considerably under the pontificate of the late John Paul II, who became the first pope on record to have visited a synagogue and who stressed the importance of Jewish-Catholic dialogue.

But the 1993 treaty that led to formal ties left open crucial details in the legal and financial arrangements between the state of Israel and the Catholic Church — which more than 13 years of on-again, off-again negotiation have failed to resolve.

Saying it wishes to ensure the liberty and security of its institutions, the Vatican is seeking to retain tax exemptions for a large collection of property, including churches, monasteries, cemeteries and other religious shrines. Tax exemptions for these properties were in place years before the state of Israel was created in 1948.  Israel, generally, wants the church to pay taxes.

The Vatican also wants disputes over church property, some of it occupied or seized, to be aired in courts under an application of due process, rather than through a political judgment, as is often the case. Church officials contend their property is often vulnerable to politically connected real estate developers, a charge that the Israeli government rejects.

Dealings between the two parties are further complicated because of disagreement over whether Israeli law or the Vatican treaty should prevail.  Perhaps more important than the technicalities at issue is the tone of interaction between representatives of two of the world's oldest faiths.  Even with improvements under the late John Paul II, and through visits by Pope Benedict XVI to German synagogues and the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, tensions are periodically inflamed.

Most recently, Jewish groups were angered by a church decision to advance Pope Pius XII along the road to sainthood. The World War II pope is criticized by many for a perceived failure to adequately oppose Hitler.  But Israeli and Vatican officials said Monday that the Pius XII case, while a point of friction, did not influence the renewed negotiations.

Aharon Abramovich, director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and head of the Israeli delegation, said progress now was less a function of a changed atmosphere and more a matter of officials deciding it was time to "do more" in a long, drawn-out mediation.  "There is an effort [by] both sides to accelerate the process," he said.

Further discussions

The parties agreed to meet again before the end of the year in Jerusalem, Abramovich said.  Israel's ambassador to the Holy See, Oded Ben-Hur, who held a late-afternoon reception for the Israeli delegation and for the new Assn. of Catholic Friends of Israel, said the Israel-Vatican relationship was a "special model."

The history shared by Christians and Jews "created an abyss of ignorance, lack of knowledge of one another, and gave birth to all kinds of prejudices," Ben-Hur said.
Israel and the Vatican, he said, are now in their 13th year of a formal relationship, the bar mitzvah year when a child ceremonially becomes an adult.

"We hope for the same parallel between Jews and the Catholic world," Ben-Hur said. "We want a sincere political dialogue."

By Tracy Wilkinson

Times Staff Writer

Speaking to AsiaNews Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, Custodian of the Holy Sites in the Holy Land, explains the meaning of Easter, of Christ’s death and resurrection, for the Christians in the Holy Land and for the entire world.  Faced with signs of death which accumulate daily in Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, the Franciscan father affirms that “God has the last word over the situations of death and fear” which dominate the Middle East and that “His last word is hope”.  In proof of this, Fr. Pizzaballa gives examples of relations, friendships, brotherhoods born between Israelis and Palestinians, between Christians, Muslims and Jews.  And sites the case of a meeting on the figure of Christ in which “an ex Israeli general and former Palestinian militant” participated.  These some signs of hope “may be few”, adds the Custodian, but they represent “a departure point”.  In the end, when Jesus arose from the dead, the disciples were also few in number and unsure in their faith”.  This is Fr Pizzaballa’s exclusive interview with AsiaNews.

Fr. Pizzaballa, what meaning does Easter have here in Jerusalem, after a year which saw a war between Israel and Lebanon, and internal conflict among the Palestinians?   

If we are objective then we must admit that there have been wars here for a long time.  Certainly this last year has been more arduous and difficult than most, but the meaning of Easter remains the same: Easter is the celebration of Life, the resurrection.  God has the last word over death and fear, and His word is a word of life and of hope.  Even in the face of the Lebanese war, the Palestinian tensions, the Israeli-Palestinian crises, the Easter message is that despite everything we must continue to believe in human goodness; because it is a reflection of God’s goodness.  Of course, there is also cruelty, evil and Satan also exists.  But God’s last word is life giving and good.  

But faced with violence and war does this hope not seem a little far off?

Perhaps. On the surface, death, war, divisions, seem to touch us more evidently.  But being here, living this reality, you slowly become aware that beyond the division there is also consensus; that beyond death there are also signs of life and hope in the many people who despite it all, continue to live, believe and invest in their relationships with each other.   There are Israeli and Palestinian organizations who meet together; schools which twin with each other; Muslim, Christian and even Jewish young people who study together; people who continue to believe that it is possible to live together in harmony. These small signs of life and hope may be few – this I concede.  But they represent a point of departure, however small.  In the end even when Christ arose from the dead the disciples were also few and unsure in their faith.  

Just one example: recently there was a study convention, organized by and Israeli- Palestinian group which brought together Christians, Muslims and Jews.  The subject under discussion was the Christian roots of our society, in collaboration with the Salesian fathers.  There were around thirty people, a very small group, but there an ex Israeli general met with a former Palestinian militant.  The ex general was governor of the Occupied Territories; the former militant had fought for the Palestinian cause, was in prison for a long time and had victims among the members of his family.  And yet they met to speak about Christ.

What kind of impact can this have?

At a first glance it would not seem to have had any. One’s heart always seems to go no further than politics and war…. But all of these shattering events tend to fade into irrelevance because real life has its needs and urgencies, among which is hope.  At that meeting, everyone understood that we must change our course, our strategy and our language.  Even in a situation as difficult as Gaza, isolated from everything, even there is not only death but also people and groups that work for life.

This year Catholics and Orthodox share the same date for Easter….

In all honesty, from a strictly practical point of view, the difference in date between the Catholic and Orthodox celebrations was very useful: less pilgrims, less traffic, ceremonies in the Holy Sepulchre easier to arrange and more intimate.  From the human and spiritual point of view, it is wonderful that everybody is in the festive spirit, pleasantly excited. Moreover, Easter has a similar meaning for Jews and Christians – notwithstanding the obvious differences.  For the Jewish people it is the feast of their liberation, which is celebrated in the Seder. With celebrate the same passage in the Easter vigil.

Are there plans to share some celebrations with the Orthodox?

The celebrations will be rigorously separate, even if they take place at the same time.  It will be, by my own definition “a marvelous Babylon”. On Palm Sunday morning for example – we Latins celebrated before the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre; the Copts celebrated the same ceremony behind the shrine.  I don’t think the Copts heard a single word of what they were saying; we certainly couldn’t understand what we were saying…. All rites and use of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre follow the rules of the status quo to the letter, created in the late ‘700’s under the Ottoman Empire.   At the time the Easter vigil was celebrated on the Saturday morning.  And we still do so.  The ceremony of light takes place first for us and then for the Orthodox.  

Christians in the Holy Land number less each year due to emigration. What is your mission?

Our mission is to remain here in these sites, which are sacred for all Christians.  The whole world is looking to Jerusalem, but Jerusalem must look out on the entire Christian world.  We are here, we pray here and we are in union with all of the Church and for all of the Church.  

We remind everyone that Easter is not only homage to pity, mourning at the tomb of death.  The Easter message is one of a new impulse to recognize the Face of the Lord, to break bread with Him, in order to break bread with every man, with every face we meet, there where there is the greatest need.   

Your parochial commitments call on you to involve yourselves in the preparations going on in your parishes so that the faithful may celebrate together the joy of the Resurrection. Among these commitments “in all the churches and oratories, run by diocesan priests and religious Orders, besides prayers for the Church in the Holy Land, a collection is held once a year. This is held on Good Friday or on another day chosen by the Ordinary of that particular place”.

These words by Paul VI refer us back to an appeal made in 1589 by Pope Sisto V and repeated by every Pope since then. Our duty to sustain our Mother Church in Jerusalem has a long history behind it. The Word of God, through the Acts of the Apostles speaks to us about the disciples’ concern for their brethren in Judaea (Acts 11, 29-30) and about the great generosity shown by the Corinthians, which Paul praises in his letter (1Cor 16, 1-6).

Later, for many centuries, as from 1309, the Franciscans were the only protagonists, in Catholic spheres, in the life of the Church in the Holy Land. When in need, they “turned to the rich and to those who were not so rich to ask for donations” (Paul VI, Nobis in animo): in this Holy Land, a land of conflicts, the inhabitants are badly in need of that love which can only be expressed through charity.

They need these roped friars, as they call them, who, following God’s calling have established themselves there even risking martyrdom. They look after those infected with plague, build houses and churches and educate the young. They also treasure ancient ruins and in them they try to find traces of a Man, who, they know, was the Messiah.  They show a deep love for the Country and the People as these go hand in hand. They are the mediators between these two realities: holy places and Christian presence. In this country, which is so particular, they keep the profile and the universal vocation of the Church and of the Holy places alive. These are undoubtedly a rich patrimony for all.

It is due to the faithful custody of these sons of St. Francis, that pilgrims, from all corners of the world, can discover the roots of their faith and of their Church. With great generosity and sacrifice, they have done this for seven centuries.  In this ecumenical land the Custody has learned to share the place with others and to communicate with brethren from the other Churches. Together with them it has shown hospitality to pilgrims who visit the places where our Lord Jesus Christ was born, died and was raised.

In this land where dialogue with Islam prevails, the Custody has built schools, hospitals and social centers which are open to all.  There is also dialogue with Hebrewism through initiatives on cultural and archaeological level.  It is a land of political and religious conflicts which have gone on for years and which have torn the lives of these two peoples.  The Friars are here: in this land where the fact of being a Christian is not taken for granted. In spite of everything, being present in this land, in the name of the Church, and living in the places which have witnessed the story of the Revelation, remains their principal vocation.

All this shows how necessary the Good Friday collection, our major source of help, is. It is important for you to know how this collection started, where the money goes, what the Custody in the Holy Land does and the projects which, through the generosity of Christians in all parts of the world, are presently being sustained.  Explain all this to your parish priests and to your fellow parishioners. This is an act of love towards your Church, towards your local Church and towards the Mother Church in Jerusalem.

The homes will be handed over on the occasion of the traditional Lenten Pilgrimage to a tiny village of Bethpage on the eastern slopes of mount Har Ha-Zetim, near the Garden of Olives. Here in a small Franciscan church there is a block of stone said to stand on the point from which Jesus descended to make his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, recalled in the annual celebration of Palm Sunday.

The new homes will give new hope to Christians inclined to emigrate because of poverty, insecurity, restrictions and lack of work. The Franciscan Custodians of the Holy Land wish in this way to stop the hemorrhage of Christians to Europe or America.

The problem was raised by Pope Benedict XVI when he met on February 1 in the Vatican members of the Commission for Catholic Orthodox Theological Dialogue. He voiced deep concern for the difficult situation of Christians in the Holy Land, "in the midst of such a volatile geopolitical panorama" and how they "are often tempted to emigrate. In these circumstances, Christians of all traditions and communities in the Middle East are called to be courageous and steadfast in the power of the Spirit of Christ. May the intercession and example of the many martyrs and saints, who have given courageous witness to Christ in these lands, sustain and strengthen the Christian communities in their faith” the Pope concluded.

by Consuelo Macedo

Our pilgrimage to the Holy Land in June is indescribable, almost. Being at the places where Jesus became flesh, was raised, taught, and performed most of his miracles in Galilee was our introduction to Israel. Leading us was Fr. Peter Vasko, president of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, who had an affectionate repartee with Ahmed, our Palestinian Muslim bus driver. Both opened our eyes to the realities as well as the spirituality of the 10 day trip.

Fr. Vasko has lived in Israel about 20 years, and is a respected link with the custodians of the churches and archeological sites which are so important to our faith heritage from the Old as well as New Testament. He arranged to concelebrate our daily liturgies with fellow pilgrim, Fr. Tom Cocciola, at Mount Carmel and the Basilica of the Annunciation, where I placed our intentions on behalf of the Diocese of Monterey and especially my parish of Santa Rosa, Cambria.

At each place, we read the appropriate Scriptures, which now added a new dimension to what previously had been the written and spoken Word in our lives. Our visit to Mt. Tabor was an inspiration, standing where Christ was transfigured before his last journey to Jerusalem.

We literally followed in His footsteps through the Judean wilderness, presently a desolate no man’s land studded with armed Israeli checkpoints, where small settlements of Bedouins eke out an existence. Entering the modern new city we encountered our first view of the 30 foot wall snaking over the hillsides, which is being erected ostensibly to separate the Israeli state from potential terrorists, but is ghettoizing and economically freezing out the Palestinian residents who have centuries of family history. Many are part of the faithful one percent Christian minority in the country.

In old Jerusalem we paid tribute to Our Lord as we followed Him deeper into His last days, with an emotional Mass at the rock in Gethsemane and walk along the Via Dolorosa up to Golgotha. We prayed an early morning Mass sung in Latin at the Holy Sepulcher, and finally meditated in His tomb.

There were so many other places we loved, but were sobered by the ever-present division in the country, politically and physically. Never in danger, we crossed and re-crossed the Israeli checkpoints on our way in and out of Emmaus, Bethany, and Bethlehem. It does cause great concern both for our Christian brothers and sisters, and access to the sacred sites in the near future.

For information about your pilgrimage, and how you can support the Catholic presence in Israel, please go to the Franciscan Foundation website at www.ffhl.org.

Consuelo Macedo is an Observer Advocate for Santa Rosa Church in Cambria.

As for the concrete situation, it appears that we are still far from this happy state of affairs. But with the intent of encouraging all those involved to follow the road that leads to peace, the pontiff felt it was apt to notice the “positive signs” that he “noted in recent weeks” in relations “between Israelis and Palestinians”.

And so that the hope that they “may consolidate” will not turn into simple illusion, Benedict XVI warned that “it is no longer possible to be satisfied with partial or unilateral solutions” and instead he called for a “global approach, which excludes no one from the search for a negotiated settlement, taking into account the legitimate interests and aspirations of the different peoples involved.”

This precise observation of the pope can be discerned as a direct and concrete contribution to discussions under way on the methodology to be used to attain peace in the Holy Land and whereabouts. While the big objectives, peace and security for two national states – the Israeli one, now in existence for nearly 60 years and the Palestinian one, yet to be established – appear to be shared by all, agreement seems to be far away on the path to reach them. The relative debate is internal to Israel but even to the “West” – that feels a particular vocation (historically founded) to facilitate peace in the Middle East. The debate is also present within the European Union: France, Spain and Italy have alluded to a renewed Peace Conference (that offers precisely ‘a global approach’); other European countries have not yet pronounced themselves and still others – in Europe and beyond – appear to be devoted to keeping on life support the famous “Road Map” , at least formally. Apart from having already failed, the road map limits itself to seeing only a gradual pacification of relations between Israelis and Palestinians, somewhat removed from the worrying – in fact explosive – regional context.

The debate is neither metaphysical nor is it simply “ethical”: rather it is about feasibility first and foremost, about geopolitical realism. Is it really possible to foresee an Israeli-Palestinian peace that is not accompanied by peace between Israel and Syria, Israel and Lebanon? Isn’t it practically a certainty that the more “positive signs” there are in the purely bilateral sphere (Israel-Palestine), the more the rest, fearing “exclusion”, will intensify efforts to stop them, sowing discord (in the Palestinian sector) or launching aggressions (like those of Hezbollah against Israel on 12 July), with particularly grave consequences (like the limitless escalation of the same clash)?

And then, can one imagine attaining peace between Israelis and Palestinians without a truly global effort and the participation of directly involved states to resolve the plight of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Syria and – especially – in Lebanon, where they are still living in particularly difficult conditions?

Concretely, current debate is tackling the question about whether or not to involve Syria in peace negotiations (Lebanon, it is certain, will follow Syria and the questions to be resolved between Lebanon and Israel in the context of peace negotiations are minimal by comparison). The Syrian government has recently declared its desire to resume peace negotiations with Israel on several occasions. Officially the Israeli government is not in favor but within the civil, military and media establishment there are strong currents of thought that are in favor and the discussion is continuing.

If the “global approach” supported by the pope is chosen, the modalities would not have to be invented from scratch: they could be found in the “Madrid Conference” that was initiated back in 1991 by the then US president George Bush and which was attended, as it happens, by Syria and Lebanon as well as the Israelis and Palestinians. It aimed to produce a series of bilateral peace treaties sustained and reinforced by another series of multilateral treaties with the wider support of the international community.

If the Madrid conference were organized again (or one similar to it), it would be boosted even more by the historic resolution of the 2002 Beirut summit of the Arab League that formally offered to normalize relations of the Jewish state with all Arab countries. The “positive signs” of recent times should definitely include a positive reference to this Arab initiative made by the Israeli PM Olmert in a public speech that signaled a break with the policy followed by Israel until then of not giving it any importance. At around that time, Olmert met in Jordan with a key figure of the Saudi government, which has authored and promoted the 2002 initiative (since then confirmed several times). News of the meeting was denied but in fact no one doubted it had taken place.

Certainly the “global approach” brings enormous difficulties, risks and complications due to the huge complexity of matters to be negotiated and resolved and the dramatic nature of changes on the ground that it calls for. But can we do without it? The pope seems to be saying no: “partial solutions”, he said, were not satisfactory. To reach peace, it is precisely this “global approach” that is called for, which “does not exclude” anyone and which safeguards, through “negotiated solutions” the “legitimate interests of the different peoples involved”. This is not utopian, it is realism; it is not realpolitik (in the pejorative sense) but ethical and – not less so – “geopolitical” realism.

by Arieh Cohen

AsiaNews

Theme of Pilgrimage: "Do not forbid them to come to me” as Bishops cross the Israeli-built wall into the city of Christ

The Archbishop of Liverpool Patrick Kelly led a delegation of the British Catholic Conference on a pilgrimage entitled ‘Journey to Bethlehem’ on Friday the 12th of January. The theme of the pilgrimage were Christ’s words “Allow the little Children and do not forbid them to come to Me” (Matt 19.13-15), reflecting the state of closure in Bethlehem, the restrictions on movements of the local community and the Israeli-built wall that surrounds Bethlehem and has turned the city of Christ into a prison.

The British delegation joined the heads of the Churches of Jerusalem, world Church leaders and the local mayors in a Bethlehem city parade that gathered more than 800 Christian children from thirty parishes across Palestine: Bethlehem and its sister cities of Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, Jerusalem, Abboud, Nablus, Ramallah and elsewhere. The procession also included Christian children from the Israeli city of Nazareth which has a large Palestinian Christian community. For many children, the pilgrimage was their first trip to Bethlehem – a city only a few miles from their home towns.

Archbishop Kelly stressed his visit was part of an ongoing program to support the Christian Church in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, reminding the congregation at an ecumenical service in the Church of the Nativity that, “The first Christmas began here in extraordinary political circumstances under Roman occupation, yet the light shone through. As Pope Paul VI said: ‘If you want peace, work for Justice’. This is why we are here today.”

Archbishop Kelly emphasized that his visit represented: “The third stage over the past month in the commitment by the Catholic Community in England and Wales to the Church in the Holy Land. The first stage was the ecumenical pilgrimage just before Christmas in which Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor took part.” The present pilgrimage follows the second stage, the filming by the BBC of a Christmas Eve Mass in Liverpool Cathedral that was dedicated to Bethlehem, both as the city of Christ and “as it is today’, which was attended by a representative of Bethlehem’s Christian community.

The Children marched through the streets of Bethlehem, ending with an ecumenical service at the Nativity Church where they listened to sermons by local and visiting Christian leaders under the theme of Christ’s words, “Allow the children and do not forbid them to come unto me; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to ones like these” (Matt 19. 12-15). Speeches by the church leaders spoke about the joy of life, reflected by the children, but also spoke about the wall that separates Bethlehem from the neighboring cities. Speakers longed for a day when such a wall should not exist in the Holy Land.

Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham William Kenney said: “Peace begins with children. They are the future. Today Bethlehem feels exactly as it was 2000 years ago. The city was under occupation and Christ was born here because of the occupation. This is a very important occasion because it reminds us that children are the same everywhere and they should be allowed to be the same.”

This was the third “Journey to Bethlehem” and the aim of the pilgrimage is to keep Bethlehem open. The pilgrimage is only possible under a special relaxation of the military regulations imposed by the Israel forces that restrict the movement of the Palestinians of Palestine as well as Israeli-Palestinian citizens. The difficulties in arranging such a visit makes these events all the more important moments.

The address from George Ghattas of the HCEF stressed that this visit came in solidarity with the people of Bethlehem, through “the spirit of children who represent the future of The Christian community and the life of the living stones of the Holy Land”. The term ‘Living Stones’ refers to the communities from which Christ drew his disciples, and who remain a living community in the Holy Land. The ‘Living Stones’ are also described as a ‘Fifth Gospel’ who keep alive the language, customs, culture and a continuing tradition from Christ’s time.

Archbishop Kelly said, “I think that the living stones here are important. I think that we all believe the Church will be much poorer if, for instance, we have no people who spoke Aramaic, the language of Christ. They bring it all to life.”

The children represented the variety of denominations of the Holy Land: Latin Catholic, Orthodox, Copts, Syriacs (whose liturgy is in Aramaic), Lutheran, Presbyterians and Greek Catholic or ‘Malakites’, the indigenous church of Palestine and a Uniate church in full communion with Rome. The day ended at the Peace Centre on Manger Square where all Church leaders joined the Peace Centre staff to distribute Christmas presents to the children.

At first Richard was based in Yanoun a small village near Nablus that has been subject to repeated attacks by Israeli settlers. Later he moved to Bethlehem.

Two weeks after we arrived in Palestine Team 19, the latest group of Ecumenical Accompaniers, had gathered at the Headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate to meet with the Patriarch himself who was to give us his blessing for the work we were about to begin at our different locations. The Patriarch was a gently spoken man but, in his statement to us, you could see that he feared for the future of Christianity in this land. Of course, he said, churches would always exist and pilgrims would come but this didn’t necessarily mean a vibrant local community of Christians was something whose future could be guaranteed.

In giving his blessing to us and praying for our work, the Patriarch was representing all the church leaders of Jerusalem who had first called us to begin this work of helping not only the Christian community but Palestinian society in general.

He told us how important, in his view, this World Council of Churches’ program was.

On Sunday 15th October three of the Yanoun team, myself included, visited the city of Nablus to meet with some of the local Christians at the Orthodox Community of St Dimitrios. The Church was tucked into a small courtyard in the old city. Nearby were the obvious signs of damage from previous bombing raids on the city which we learned were occurring on a nightly basis at present. After the Liturgy had finished we were able to talk to this small Arab congregation about the situation they were facing. The priest, Father George Aw-ad, told us of a time when up to 50,000 Christians lived in Nablus just some 30 years ago but now they were down to less than 1,000 and many of these wanted to leave.

Fr George said he gave Christianity only 20 years in the city if present rates of decline continue - "all we can do is trust in God." He then took out a photograph album showing us what the church looked like just a few months earlier. A bomb had gone off nearby and had badly damaged the church. All the windows were blown in, rubble covered the floor and icons had been blown out of the iconostasis at the front of the church . Yet this small congregation, with the help of some of the local Muslims, had repaired it for worship once again, at least until the next time. Michael told us how each night the Israeli army makes incursions into the city and each morning reveals some more destruction. How long will it be until the church is hit again?.

Huwwara checkpoint, Nablus, with soldiers pointing guns at drivers entering the city

Speaking to members of the church revealed how they felt trapped in the middle of this conflict and are viewed with suspicion by both sides, by the Israelis, who treat them in the same way as they treat all Palestinians, as well as by many in the Muslim community. They can be the first target to be lashed out at when the policies of the so called ’Christian West’ seem to make life worse for the Palestinians or the

Muslim world in general.

These Christians do not associate themselves with the political agendas of Mr Blair or Mr Bush. They are fully Arab Christians who can trace their historical roots back to Christ and the Apostles themselves. Yet recently two churches in the city were fire bombed following the quotations used by Pope Benedict about Islam.

Leaving this congregation left us with mixed emotions. They were warm and friendly yet felt somehow so beleaguered. We wondered what the future would hold for people like Michael and his young daughter.

Going through the streets of the old city the walls were full of pictures of young men who had obviously died in suicide missions against Israel. They are viewed as freedom fighters who had died as martyrs, but I had a certain feeling of darkness seeing these men who had decided the future was so bleak and the Israeli military presence so strong that the only thing they could do was strap explosives to their bodies and blow themselves up.

Leaving the city we had to negotiate the Israeli checkpoint of Huwwara, a seething mass of humanity trying to reach their homes or places of work on the other side of the checkpoint, but still in the West Bank.

Herded like animals the men in particular are searched and their bags emptied with no telling how long they might have to wait. Soldiers, barely out of school, brandish weapons as they shout out orders to the people. In situations like this it is hardly surprising that people want to escape the city or the West Bank altogether for a better life in the West. For the Christians, even reaching Jerusalem is impossible unless they can get a permit. Muslims face the same difficulties reaching their holy Mosque of Al Aqsa. Not only is economic life crippled but religious life is affected by the ongoing conflict. Many see their only hope of a brighter future as getting out altogether.

We can only hope some of the Christians of St. Dimitrios do stay, along with those of other churches, but ultimately all they can do, as has been said, is trust in God that one day true peace will come and end the tragedy that is Palestine today.

The Orthodox Church of St Dimitrios

As for the concrete situation, it appears that we are still far from this happy state of affairs. But with the intent of encouraging all those involved to follow the road that leads to peace, the pontiff felt it was apt to notice the “positive signs” that he “noted in recent weeks” in relations “between Israelis and Palestinians”.

And so that the hope that they “may consolidate” will not turn into simple illusion, Benedict XVI warned that “it is no longer possible to be satisfied with partial or unilateral solutions” and instead he called for a “global approach, which excludes no one from the search for a negotiated settlement, taking into account the legitimate interests and aspirations of the different peoples involved.”

This precise observation of the pope can be discerned as a direct and concrete contribution to discussions under way on the methodology to be used to attain peace in the Holy Land and whereabouts. While the big objectives, peace and security for two national states – the Israeli one, now in existence for nearly 60 years and the Palestinian one, yet to be established – appear to be shared by all, agreement seems to be far away on the path to reach them. The relative debate is internal to Israel but even to the “West” – that feels a particular vocation (historically founded) to facilitate peace in the Middle East. The debate is also present within the European Union: France, Spain and Italy have alluded to a renewed Peace Conference (that offers precisely ‘a global approach’); other European countries have not yet pronounced themselves and still others – in Europe and beyond – appear to be devoted to keeping on life support the famous “Road Map” , at least formally. Apart from having already failed, the road map limits itself to seeing only a gradual pacification of relations between Israelis and Palestinians, somewhat removed from the worrying – in fact explosive – regional context.

The debate is neither metaphysical nor is it simply “ethical”: rather it is about feasibility first and foremost, about geopolitical realism. Is it really possible to foresee an Israeli-Palestinian peace that is not accompanied by peace between Israel and Syria, Israel and Lebanon? Isn’t it practically a certainty that the more “positive signs” there are in the purely bilateral sphere (Israel-Palestine), the more the rest, fearing “exclusion”, will intensify efforts to stop them, sowing discord (in the Palestinian sector) or launching aggressions (like those of Hezbollah against Israel on 12 July), with particularly grave consequences (like the limitless escalation of the same clash)?

And then, can one imagine attaining peace between Israelis and Palestinians without a truly global effort and the participation of directly involved states to resolve the plight of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Syria and – especially – in Lebanon, where they are still living in particularly difficult conditions?

Concretely, current debate is tackling the question about whether or not to involve Syria in peace negotiations (Lebanon, it is certain, will follow Syria and the questions to be resolved between Lebanon and Israel in the context of peace negotiations are minimal by comparison). The Syrian government has recently declared its desire to resume peace negotiations with Israel on several occasions. Officially the Israeli government is not in favor but within the civil, military and media establishment there are strong currents of thought that are in favor and the discussion is continuing.

If the “global approach” supported by the pope is chosen, the modalities would not have to be invented from scratch: they could be found in the “Madrid Conference” that was initiated back in 1991 by the then US president George Bush and which was attended, as it happens, by Syria and Lebanon as well as the Israelis and Palestinians. It aimed to produce a series of bilateral peace treaties sustained and reinforced by another series of multilateral treaties with the wider support of the international community.

If the Madrid conference were organized again (or one similar to it), it would be boosted even more by the historic resolution of the 2002 Beirut summit of the Arab League that formally offered to normalize relations of the Jewish state with all Arab countries. The “positive signs” of recent times should definitely include a positive reference to this Arab initiative made by the Israeli PM Olmert in a public speech that signaled a break with the policy followed by Israel until then of not giving it any importance. At around that time, Olmert met in Jordan with a key figure of the Saudi government, which has authored and promoted the 2002 initiative (since then confirmed several times). News of the meeting was denied but in fact no one doubted it had taken place.

Certainly the “global approach” brings enormous difficulties, risks and complications due to the huge complexity of matters to be negotiated and resolved and the dramatic nature of changes on the ground that it calls for. But can we do without it? The pope seems to be saying no: “partial solutions”, he said, were not satisfactory. To reach peace, it is precisely this “global approach” that is called for, which “does not exclude” anyone and which safeguards, through “negotiated solutions” the “legitimate interests of the different peoples involved”. This is not utopian, it is realism; it is not realpolitik (in the pejorative sense) but ethical and – not less so – “geopolitical” realism.

by Arieh Cohen

AsiaNews

“We are proud of our Milk Grotto,” exclaimed happy Bethlehemites on Sunday, December 31, after the Inaugural Mass in the new church built over the ancestral chapel in the Milk Grotto. Their joy was not a foregone conclusion, because over these past months the residents of Bethlehem, and especially those who frequent the Milk Grotto, had been penetrated by a diffuse anxiety. “Their” Milk Grotto was being altered. But the results swept away the fears. Because they love it, the local people found beauty in this ancient chapel, blackened by smoke, where their devotion to the Blessed Virgin had been expressed for generations, but the restoration work amazed them: “They’ve made it even more beautiful!” The ultimate praise of the Christians of Bethlehem.

They turned out in great numbers, then, for the inauguration of the new church built above the old, touched by its somber beauty. And they were not alone, since over 600 Slovakian pilgrims had come for the occasion (see article “Blessing of the New Chapel”), as well as a group of Italian pilgrims, friends and relatives of the architect Luigi Leoni, guided by Father Pasquale Ghezzi, Holy Land Commissioner for Lombardy (in Italy). To tell the truth, the crowd was so large that it filled the entire site. The upper church, but also the one on the intermediate level, where the ceremony was transmitted to a large screen, and along with corridors, in the stairwells… everywhere, there were clusters of praying pilgrims.

The Custos of the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, welcomed the assembly, followed by the architect, Luigi Leoni, who explained the meaning with which he and his colleague Chiara Rovati had sought to imbue the architectural process. He sketched the spirit in which the Custody had decided on the project, and then invoked the meaning of its dedication to the Theotokos, the Mother of God. In this place where we commemorate Mary’s maternal love by meditating on that simplest and most essential of maternal acts, Mary is entirely Mother of God, caring for Emmanuel, God-with-us.

The theme was taken up by Mgr Twal, who was the principal celebrant of the Mass, with four Slovakian bishops concelebrating, when he spoke of Mary as the one who “meditated all these things in her heart”. In the first rows of pews, the city’s dignitaries were seated, among them the Mayor of Bethlehem, but also representatives of the Slovakian and Italian donors whose financial aid helped bring the project to fruition, including representatives of the municipality and the parish of Monte Varchi in Tuscany (Italy). The Franciscan friars, large numbers of whom came from Jerusalem, animated the Vespers of the Mother of God that preceded the Mass, and the Slovakian pilgrims prolonged their prayer with warm and beautiful polyphony in the best Slavic manner at its conclusion.

May the Church soon be filled once again with the songs of pilgrims. While waiting, the Christians of Bethlehem will do as they have always done: watching and guarding the faith in this country.

MAB

Franciscan Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa made these comments on Vatican Radio this month, and expressed gratitude to Benedict XVI " for his very close and concrete concern to attract everyone to this reality, which is truly deteriorating and lacerating people's lives."

The custodian referred to the Holy Father's homily Jan. 1, solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and World Day of Peace, in which the Pope highlighted the "dramatic situation that characterizes precisely that land where Jesus was born," and that peace is promoted by respecting the human person.

The Pontiff asked: "In order to be lasting, a peace agreement must be based on respect for the dignity and rights of every person."

Father Pizzaballa said Benedict XVI's emphasis on the person is a "very important affirmation, especially here, in the Middle East, in the Holy Land, where there is very often talk of borders, areas and territories, but people, perhaps involuntarily, are relegated to the second plane."

"If we thought first of all of the need of the person, of every person, perhaps the solutions would be closer," the Franciscan custodian suggested.  The conflict in the Holy Land "involves the lives of all people, Israelis and Palestinians," continued the Franciscan minister provincial in the Middle East.  He added: "Objectively, the Palestinians suffer more than any one else, because of the economic situation, the internal divisions and the absence of a state.  "But violence also strikes the Israelis indirectly: It is a situation that really exhausts the lives of almost all the families of this country."

Troubled region

Benedict XVI turned his attention again to the Middle East in his address Monday to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, in which he referred to the region as a "source of great concerns."

The Pope added: "I renew my urgent appeal to all parties involved in the region's complex political chessboard, with the hope that they will consolidate the positive signs between Israelis and Palestinians, witnessed in recent weeks. The Holy See will never tire of repeating that armed solutions achieve nothing."

Father Pizzaballa, in comments to SIR news agency of the Italian episcopate, said that "the Pope's appeals for a just and peaceful solution of the conflicts in this land, as well as for the conditions of Christians living here, are stronger than ever."

"It is a warning to the international community to mobilize urgently. The Pope reminded that peace in the world is also linked to the solution of conflicts in the Middle East."

The custodian added: "It is true that there are timid signs of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, but they are still too lukewarm. The situation continues to be tense and the crisis also seems to be extending to countries of the region, such as Iran.  "If a radical change in direction is not detected, the crisis might degenerate. The Pope has understood this well and always reminds us of it."

Printed with permission from

ZENIT News Agency

On November 25th, after his Solemn Entry into Bethlehem for the feast of Saint Catherine, the Custos of the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, inaugurated the two seven-story buildings of Saint Catherine’s Residence, each containing 24 apartments for the city’s Roman Catholics.

As part of the Custody’s renovation and construction program, the project meets several objectives:
1. Provides homes for the city’s Christian families.
2. Provides work opportunities.
3. Limits emigration of Christian families.
4. Brings the Custody closer to the people.
5. Increases investment in property ownership in the Holy Land.
6. Preserves and maintains property in the Holy Land for the good of society.

Seventy apartments are currently under construction in Bethlehem as part of this program. Since more than twice that number of families has applied for tenancy, a commission was formed to choose tenants in accordance with objective criteria. Each family has assembled a file indicating their resources, the number of dependents, etc., and the commission’s five members—the Treasurer of the Custody, Father Abdel Masih Fahim OFM; the parish priest, Father Amjad Sabbara OFM; the director of the Custody’s school, Father Marwan Di’Des OFM, and two members of the community—will make the decisions together, on a case-by-case basis.

Construction of Saint Catherine’s Residence began in July, 2004. At the beginning of November this year the happy families were informed that an apartment had been allotted to them and they could take immediate possession. Each 115 sq. m. apartment includes three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large living room, a kitchen and a balcony. Although free of ostentation, the Residence is clearly of high quality construction. The Custody of the Holy Land undertakes to give the disadvantaged both quality and beauty. Moreover, project’s cost effectiveness earned kudos for the Palestinian architect, Najib Nasser.

The Custody’s customary rents are $200 per month (160 euros, 860 New Israeli Shekels); the city’s usual rents are from $400 to $600. For purposes of comparison: a Palestinian policeman earns $400 per month (€ 320, NIS 1700) and a professor, around $7-800 (€ 550-630, NIS 3025-3460).

“Although you can survive on $250 to $300 a month in Bethlehem, it’s only starting at $1000 (€ 780) that you can live decently,” says a Bethlehem family man. Few families earn that much. “Before the second Intifada (going back to the year 2000), when the economic situation allowed both parents to work, life was bearable.” The city of Bethlehem in the year 2006 has an employment rate of 60% of the work force. Furthermore, the absence of a Palestinian State and of adequate social and administrative structures in the Palestinian Authority means that there is no system of medical insurance or old age pensions. Families, therefore, have to try to amass their own savings for life beyond the age of 65, the legal age of retirement.

This helps us to better understand the needs of local residents and the Custody’s efforts to help them.

It is of note that the construction was carried out by local contractors who were selected by bid. The architect, Najib Nasser, is a Palestinian Christian who lives in Bethlehem and has worked on numerous projects for the Custody here and in Jerusalem. His architectural firm employs 26 people: architects, engineers, draftsmen, and secretaries. One hundred other people are foremen, project directors and skilled craftsmen. Two engineers remained permanently on site to supervise the progress of the work.

Project cost for Saint Catherine’s Residence comes to some five million dollars. It is financed by the Custody of the Holy Land, with assistance from Europe and America. Several other projects are in progress at Jerusalem (Bethpage), Jericho, Nazareth, Jaffa, three more buildings in Bethlehem, one of which was financed thanks to a gift from Pope John Paul II, and another at Tripoli, Lebanon.

We recall that the Custody of the Holy lives and works in large part thanks to the gifts of the world’s Christians at the annual Good Friday collection.

In summary, then, this year the world’s Christians are giving the Christians of Bethlehem a new home; a wonderful Christmas present in the city where the Savior and Prince of Peace was born.

MAB

Al Ram-
The last time the Abu Leils tried to go to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer (about 5 kilometers from their house), they left over an hour early and got there at the end of the service. They don't try anymore. They live in Al Ram, which used to be considered a part of Jerusalem because it was integrated with the neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, but it is about to be sealed off on the West Bank side of the Wall.

It is also hard to travel because the routes change often. Toenter Jerusalem, the Abu Leils- although they hold Jerusalem IDs- find themselves on the West Bank side and must drive up to Kalandia Checkpoint, several kilometers to the north, and wait for what can be 15 minutes or 3 hours, one never knows. Picture a 3 lane toll booth, where each car is questioned for an indefinite time, but usually only one lane is open. Then they must go south again to reach Jerusalem through torn up roads half-constructed. It doubles the distance but can quadruple the time. They estimated to get to their 9 am service in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, they would have to leave at about 6:30 to make sure they were there on time. And since they have to do this same drill every weekday for the kids to reach their schools, they all are so tired that it is hard to make that effort.

This northern wall between Jerusalem and "the West Bank," although it is really right through the middle of Palestinian areas that used to be considered Jerusalem, is becoming more and more complete. This wall section in Al-Ram is expected to be sealed very soon.

This has virtually cut off faith life for the Abu Leils and almost 25% of the families of Redeemer's Arabic congregation. It is simply too hard to get there. This year, their 13-yeard-old son, Feraz, is supposed to begin confirmation class. But unless special arrangements are made, he won't be able to. He is only 13 and has no ID, so he can't go through the checkpoint on his own, but he might be a special case to go through an existing checkpoint by foot if accompanied by a parent from one side and if the pastor is willing to come and meet him from the other side. They are still working on it.

The Abu Leils talk about going to the Lutheran Church in Ramallah, about 13 kilometers away, but Samir says: "We are strangers there. I grew up at Redeemer. That is my church."

Another major change may come if they can no longer afford to keep their children in costly Christian schools. The public schools, the only schools available to them in their neighborhood behind the wall, are Islamic. But they only cost 20 sheckles (about $5) per student per year.

Bethlehem-
Zoughbi hasn't been able to go to his church in Jerusalem for 6 years. Not for Easter, not for weddings, not for funerals, not for baptisms and not for Sunday services.He used to be a member of the English-speaking congregation of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. But it's hard to be a member if you can't get there.

Zoughbi said he doesn't even try to get permits anymore because it is such an onerous effort. "You can wait for hours, only to be told 'come back tomorrow,' but 'tomorrow' never comes. And that's just applying for the permits." He said they are rarely given, and even when given, they can be revoked at any time at any checkpoint by a soldier who says, "Not today." He also said that sometimes they will give permits for the wife but not the husband, the brother but not the sister.

Zoughbi also talked about men- and women - having to go through humiliating searches.

He said the effect is a complete fragmentation of the family, which for Palestinians- both Muslim and Christian- is integrally woven with faith and life. For him, it is not just that he can't go to his church anymore for Sundays or Easter, but it is the inability to gather for weddings, funerals, baptisms, confirmations. These family events are the faith and life moments that are the whole fabric of Palestinian society. With these restrictions are tearing that fabric apart because mostPalestinians have families spread throughout the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza.

The Moderator

Palestine

Rather, Father Peter was here on March 22 because the mother Church of all Christians is in crisis, and possibly even in danger of dying out. If something isn’t done quickly, this land – where Jesus was born, crucified, died and rose from the dead – will have no Christians.

All Christians have an obligation to support the Holy Land Christians, said Father Peter, director of development for the 800 year-old Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and president of the 10 year-old Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land.

“Without the mother Church of Jerusalem, there would be no Church here in Kansas City, Miami, Berlin, or London,” he said. “We owe everything to the mother Church. And without the mother Church, we are nothing.

“Our Church is dying; it’s falling apart, it needs to be rebuilt, and we need the help of American Catholics to continue to support those programs that help maintain the Christian presence in the Holy Land.

The archdiocese was one of Father Peter’s stops during a seven-week tour of the United States. His mission is to find funding and other support for the programs of the Custody and Foundation.

Ten years ago, the Custody founded the Foundation to offer programs that would encourage Holy Land Christians to stay in their native land, and thus continue to be the “living stones” of the Church there.

The Christian population of the Holy Land – Israel proper and the Palestinian and Israeli-controlled areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip – has been in decline for many years, said Father Peter. Thirty-five years ago, Bethlehem was 80 percent Christian. Today, it’s 91 percent Muslim.

Today, the total Christian population of these Israeli and Palestinian areas is approximately 150,000 – mainly Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Syrian, Coptic, Latin-and Eastern-rite Melkite Catholics, and a few others. Of this number, approximately 75,000 are Catholic (almost half Eastern –rite Melkite Catholics, and the other half Latin-rite Catholics). Protestants – mostly foreigners living in these territories – number about 4,000. In Jerusalem alone, there are only 11,000 Christians.

The drop in the Christian population in the Holy Land is the result of many factors, but the main ones are discrimination and the lack of economic opportunity. On average, Holy Land Christians – mostly Arabs – are better educated than their Arab Muslim compatriots, and are thus more apt to seek a better future among family members overseas.

“The Christians are the ones who are caught in the middle,” said Father Peter. “The Israeli government looks upon Christians as Arabs, as Palestinians, and is suspicious [of them]. And their Palestinian Muslim neighbors look upon them as pro-West and traitors to the cause of Islam. So, they’re kind of caught between the hammer and the anvil. That’s why we became the first organization 10 years ago to have this three-pronged approach.”

That three-pronged approach is: to subsidize the education of marginalized Christians of any denomination; assist them in securing employment; and help them find housing in the Holy Land.

“To stem the Christian exodus, the approach continues to be to provide marginalized young people with a college education, to those that are academically inclined,” said Father Peter. “After they graduate, we help them find employment, and after employment, [acquire] housing in the units that we are building in Jerusalem and the West Bank, especially Bethlehem.

Over the past 10 years the Foundation has awarded 86 scholarships (approximately 12 a year) to young Christians at a cost of $1.3 million. The students attend Bethlehem University, Hebrew University, and Beit Zeir University. Of the 40 who have graduated so far, most have professional jobs as engineers, pharmacists, teachers, dentists and architects.

“We also give educational grants for music and vocational schools,” he said. “So we’re trying to cover a number of areas.”

The average cost of a college education for a young Holy Land Christian is about $25,000, or roughly $6,000 a year. One way American donors are helping these Christians is through direct sponsorships.

Even with an education, job, housing, Holy Land Christians still face difficulties. Christians have been evicted from Muslim-owned apartments in Bethlehem because they have displayed a crucifix or picture of Jesus. Conversely, their lives are complicated on their way to work, school or home by Israeli security measures like “Security/Separation Wall/Fence.”

Despite these and other daunting challenges, Father Peter and many Holy Land Christians now have hope because of the Foundation’s work.

“The Church is falling down in the Holy Land, and we need to repair our Church,” said Father Peter. “So I ask people, “Will you be an instrument of hope to these young Christians who have no one to turn to, no hope, and no vehicle to tell their problems?”

“The Foundation has been that platform that lobby. Thank God, the generosity of American Catholics has been tremendous and is growing.”

Wanted: Pilgrims

The years of the second Intifada, a period of Palestinian-led violence between 2000 and 2004, was a difficult time for Holy Land Christians.

During this time the number of Christian pilgrims dropped dramatically – and thus caused economic hardship for the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and the many Holy Land Christians who depended upon the revenues derived from pilgrim activity.

Many pilgrims stayed away because they feared that they would experience the Intifada’s violence. They needn’t have worried, said Father Peter.

“I’d urge your readers to come to pilgrimages [to the Holy Land],” he said. “You will give moral support [to Holy Land Christians] by being there.”

As for tourist safety, everything depends on location he said. All the major Christian shrines are in East Jerusalem, and the attacks have taken place in West Jerusalem. Often, incidents are described as happening “near” Jerusalem, but they could actually be many miles away, with Jerusalem being used as a reference point for readers or viewers.

“I’ve been guiding [pilgrims] for 21 years, and I’ve had six pilgrimages this year with about 200 Americans,” said Father Peter. “They say at the end, “Where are all the problems?” I say “I’ve been saying that for years, and nobody believes me. Go and tell your people that it is safe to come to the Holy Land.”

“It’s not just a pious thing. The Lord takes care of you. You’re not coming here as a tourist, you’re coming here to seek the Lord, those holy places that you heard about from the pulpit when the priest was preaching. And now you’re there, and the Lord always takes care of His pilgrims.”

In all his years of leading pilgrimages on tours of the Holy Land, Father Peter said, not a single one of his pilgrims has ever been injured.

Identity Question

Americans who are unfamiliar with the Holy Land are easily confused by the notion of a Palestinian Arab, said Father Peter. But there are actual three aspects of identity to consider.

The race of these individuals is Arab, their nationality is Palestinian, and their religion is either Christian or Muslim. An Arab might be a Lebanese Christian or Muslim, or a Jordanian Christian or Muslim. An Arab might even be an Israeli Christian or Muslim.

Hamas Gains Power

Many people outside of the Middle East were surprised when Hamas – a Palestinian Islamic movement, considered a terrorist organization by the United States – achieved significant victories in the January Palestinian election.

“Let me tell you, they did not win because the people voted for them based on Islamic ideology. No, not at all,” said Father Peter. “The reason they won is because over the past 12 years, Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority, did nothing for the people. There was no infrastructure. No schools were built. No roads were paved. No houses were built. Where did the money go? It went into government salaries and expenditures-corruption on the part of the minister who took millions and millions and put them into Swiss bank accounts.”

Meanwhile, Hamas developed an extensive charitable network. When it came time to vote, the Palestinians – desperate, angry and beholden – voted for Hamas.

But here’s something Father Peter wants Americans to know: Hamas is limited. Of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Parliament, Hamas holds 74, and nine of those office holders are in Israeli prisons. That leaves the Hamas bloc with 65 votes – short of the 88 votes needed for a veto override.

Father Peter hopes that the Hamas’ election wins won’t deter the European Union and the United States from funding relief efforts conducted by non-governmental organizations.

“Obviously, [Hamas] has to renounce in its charter the destruction of Israel,” he said. How can you negotiate with a partner if you’re calling for their destruction? No, that’s a definite.”

By Joe Bollig
Staff Writer

Father Vasko is president of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, whose purpose is to safeguard the basic human rights of the Palestinian Christian minority living in the Holy Land. He spoke to congregations at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte Feb. 18-19.

Approximately 150,000 Christians currently live in the Holy Land. Only 11,000 Christians live in Jerusalem, a city of more than 600,000 citizens.

“Holy Land” is a religious term for the region east of the Mediterranean Sea that is sacred, in varying degrees, to Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Geographically, it corresponds to the modern state of Israel, and the Palestinian and occupied territories.

Christians living in the area that was known in biblical times as Palestine are known as Palestinian Christians.

“In 1900, 13.2 percent of the population in the Holy Land was Christian,” Fa ther Vasko said. “Today it’s less than two percent in Israel, including the West Bank and Gaza.”

Thirty-five years ago, the population of Bethlehem was 80 percent Christian and 20 percent Muslim. Today, the city of Christ’s birth is 91 percent Muslim and 9 percent Christian.

For these Christians trapped in a hostile environment of ethnic distrust, the Franciscan Foundation is the only organized voice for justice and positive change, said Fa ther Vasko.

No reason to stay

According to the foundation’s Web site, inadequate housing, high unemployment and greatly reduced educational opportunities are causing widespread suffering and a mass exodus of the Christian population from the Holy Land.

The goal of the foundation is to raise $30 million to create job opportunities for Christians by providing training for positions in schools, churches, parish centers and medical facilities; and by providing academic scholarships for talented but underprivileged Christian students.

As of December 2002, the foundation has given more than 60 scholarships and four educational grants amounting to $1 million.

The foundation is also building 500 subsidized housing units for Christian families and restoring the tomb of Jesus in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Caught in the middle

For the last 40 years, Palestinian Christians have been caught in the middle of an intense religious and ethnic power struggle.

“The Israeli government looks upon them as Palestinians, therefore the enemy,” Fa ther Vasko said. “To Muslims, they are traitors and pro-West.”

The united States provides aid money to the Israeli government and to the Palestinian Authority, but none of this money goes to Palestinian Christians, Fa ther Vasko said.

“They have no major resources or organizations helping them, and they are the ones who are leaving,” he said. “We’re trying to provide motivations and incentives for our young Christians to stay.”

More hardships were inflicted on all Palestinians with the construction of the 480-mile barrier across Israel. Although it was built to keep both Israelis and Palestinians safe, 320,000 people lost their jobs because they can no longer cross the border to their jobs into major cities. A great many of those affected are Christian, said Fa ther Vasko.

A relative peace

Despite persistent violence throughout much of the Middle East, Fa ther Vasko said members of the three faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – live in relative peace in the Holy Land.

“There really is no persecution of one religion against the o ther,” Fa ther Vasko said. Ra ther the violence is politically based.

“The political situation has polarized the people against one ano ther,” he said. “If we don’t do something soon, we could have no one visiting our religious monuments and museums or worshipping at our churches.”

Fa ther Vasko said that, despite what people might read and see in the news, it is quite safe to visit the Holy Land.

“All the holy sites of Christendom are in East Jerusalem,” he said. The attacks that dotake place occur in the Jewish section of West Jerusalem.

“When you go on pilgrimage, you’re coming to seek the Lord,” said Fa ther Vasko. “I’ve lead pilgrimages in the Holy Land for 21 years, and there’s never been even one pilgrim who has been the victim of an attack.”

Fa ther Vasko said the Catholics of North Carolina can help Palestinian Christians by praying for peace among the three religions of the Holy Land.

Christians in the Holy Land need to know that their western counterparts care about what happens to them, Fa ther Vasko said.

“Palestinian Christians feel invisible to the West,” said Fa ther Vasko. “By coming to the Holy Land, you’re giving them economic and moral support.”

Written by Karen A. Evans

Staff Writer

Palestinian Christians feel “ignored and abandoned by the Christian West,” according to Father Peter Vasko, OFM, President of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land.

Father Vasko, in San Diego during a recent fundraising effort, told The Southern Cross that only about 150,000 Christians are left in the Holy Land.  If Christians worldwide fail to address the reasons for the dwindling numbers, he said, Christianity might be extinguished in the birthplace of its divine founder within the next 60 years.

“It looks kind of bleak,” Father Vasko said.  “If they leave, all we’re going to have are empty religious monuments and museums – no living, worshipping community.”

For almost 800 years, the Franciscans have preserved and protected some of the region’s most sacred Christian shrines.  With the formation of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land in 1994, the order has worked aggressively to address the economic and political hardships of Palestinian Christians, in an effort to reverse what Father Vasko describes as their mass “exodus.”

According to Father Vasko, Palestinian Christians – about half of whom are Latin or Melkite Catholics – earn disproportionately smaller incomes than their Israeli and Palestinian Muslim neighbors.  While financial aid is awarded to both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, he said, “None of that money ever trickles down to the Christian Palestinians.  They are caught between a rock and a hard place, between the hammer and the anvil, economically speaking.”

The Christian population’s economic woes have been exacerbated by political trends throughout the volatile region, according to Father Vasko. 

In addition to these problems, he said, Palestinian Christians are not only viewed with distrust by both Israelis and Palestinian Muslims, but be believes, they are forgotten by most of the world’s Christians, who are almost completely unaware of their existence.

“The Christians have been there since the early second century,” Father Vasko said.  “They’ve been the guardians of Christianity.”

Catholic dioceses across the globe hold an annual Good Friday collection to raise funds for the Church in the Holy Land.  In 2005, the Diocese of San Diego’s collection alone raised $84,850.  Father Vasko explained that much of that money is earmarked for the renovation and general upkeep of various sanctuaries and schools, as well as the operating expenses of the Franciscan fairies.

The Foundation was established to address the needs of individual Palestinian Christians for a college education, employment and housing.  A task committee quickly established that many of the younger Palestinian Christians were willing to remain in the Holy Land if these three issues were adequately addressed.

Today, foundation scholarships send Christians to top-tier Middle Eastern universities, which prepare them for satisfying professional careers upon graduation; meanwhile, the foundation has built more than 600 housing units.

The future success of the foundation’s work depends on the support of Christians.

Father Vasko told the Southern Cross that U.S. Catholics can aid Palestinian Christians in several ways, such as praying for peace in the troubled region, providing the Foundation with much-needed financial resources and even making a pilgrimage.

“Let me tell you, it is very safe, Father Vasko said, brushing aside much of the media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as exploitative, sensationalistic and untrue.  During several pilgrimages, which he guided, the Franciscan priest said pilgrims were shocked by the incongruity between news coverage and their own experiences.

Because Palestinian Christians depend heavily on the revenue generated by Christian pilgrims, they were hit hard when a renewed terrorist effort against Israel Frightened away potential Christian pilgrims from 2000 to 2004.

The Leaven – Kansas City

March 31, 2006

By Joe Bollig

Staff Writer

Father Peter F. Vasko, OFM, came to the archdiocese on a rescue mission. Not that anyone in the archdiocese was in trouble – or at least the kind of trouble for which they needed help from a Franciscan from the Holy Land.

Rather, Father Peter was here on March 22 because the mother Church of all Christians is in crisis, and possibly even in danger of dying out. If something isn’t done quickly, this land – where Jesus was born, crucified, died and rose from the dead – will have no Christians.

All Christians have an obligation to support the Holy Land Christians, said Father Peter, director of development for the 800 year-old Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and president of the 10 year-old Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land.

“Without the mother Church of Jerusalem, there would be no Church here in Kansas City, Miami, Berlin, or London,” he said. “We owe everything to the mother Church. And without the mother Church, we are nothing.

“Our Church is dying; it’s falling apart, it needs to be rebuilt, and we need the help of American Catholics to continue to support those programs that help maintain the Christian presence in the Holy Land.

The archdiocese was one of Father Peter’s stops during a seven-week tour of the United States. His mission is to find funding and other support for the programs of the Custody and Foundation.

Ten years ago, the Custody founded the Foundation to offer programs that would encourage Holy Land Christians to stay in their native land, and thus continue to be the “living stones” of the Church there.

The Christian population of the Holy Land – Israel proper and the Palestinian and Israeli-controlled areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip – has been in decline for many years, said Father Peter. Thirty-five years ago, Bethlehem was 80 percent Christian. Today, it’s 91 percent Muslim.

Today, the total Christian population of these Israeli and Palestinian areas is approximately 150,000 – mainly Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Syrian, Coptic, Latin-and Eastern-rite Melkite Catholics, and a few others. Of this number, approximately 75,000 are Catholic (almost half Eastern –rite Melkite Catholics, and the other half Latin-rite Catholics). Protestants – mostly foreigners living in these territories – number about 4,000. In Jerusalem alone, there are only 11,000 Christians.

The drop in the Christian population in the Holy Land is the result of many factors, but the main ones are discrimination and the lack of economic opportunity. On average, Holy Land Christians – mostly Arabs – are better educated than their Arab Muslim compatriots, and are thus more apt to seek a better future among family members overseas.

“The Christians are the ones who are caught in the middle,” said Father Peter. “The Israeli government looks upon Christians as Arabs, as Palestinians, and is suspicious [of them]. And their Palestinian Muslim neighbors look upon them as pro-West and traitors to the cause of Islam. So, they’re kind of caught between the hammer and the anvil. That’s why we became the first organization 10 years ago to have this three-pronged approach.”

That three-pronged approach is: to subsidize the education of marginalized Christians of any denomination; assist them in securing employment; and help them find housing in the Holy Land.

“To stem the Christian exodus, the approach continues to be to provide marginalized young people with a college education, to those that are academically inclined,” said Father Peter. “After they graduate, we help them find employment, and after employment, [acquire] housing in the units that we are building in Jerusalem and the West Bank, especially Bethlehem.

Over the past 10 years the Foundation has awarded 86 scholarships (approximately 12 a year) to young Christians at a cost of $1.3 million. The students attend Bethlehem University, Hebrew University, and Beit Zeir University. Of the 40 who have graduated so far, most have professional jobs as engineers, pharmacists, teachers, dentists and architects.

“We also give educational grants for music and vocational schools,” he said. “So we’re trying to cover a number of areas.”

The average cost of a college education for a young Holy Land Christian is about $25,000, or roughly $6,000 a year. One way American donors are helping these Christians is through direct sponsorships.

Even with an education, job, housing, Holy Land Christians still face difficulties. Christians have been evicted from Muslim-owned apartments in Bethlehem because they have displayed a crucifix or picture of Jesus. Conversely, their lives are complicated on their way to work, school or home by Israeli security measures like “Security/Separation Wall/Fence.”

Despite these and other daunting challenges, Father Peter and many Holy Land Christians now have hope because of the Foundation’s work.

“The Church is falling down in the Holy Land, and we need to repair our Church,” said Father Peter. “So I ask people, “Will you be an instrument of hope to these young Christians who have no one to turn to, no hope, and no vehicle to tell their problems?”

“The Foundation has been that platform that lobby. Thank God, the generosity of American Catholics has been tremendous and is growing.”

Wanted: Pilgrims

The years of the second Intifada, a period of Palestinian-led violence between 2000 and 2004, was a difficult time for Holy Land Christians.

During this time the number of Christian pilgrims dropped dramatically – and thus caused economic hardship for the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and the many Holy Land Christians who depended upon the revenues derived from pilgrim activity.

Many pilgrims stayed away because they feared that they would experience the Intifada’s violence. They needn’t have worried, said Father Peter.

“I’d urge your readers to come to pilgrimages [to the Holy Land],” he said. “You will give moral support [to Holy Land Christians] by being there.”

As for tourist safety, everything depends on location he said. All the major Christian shrines are in East Jerusalem, and the attacks have taken place in West Jerusalem. Often, incidents are described as happening “near” Jerusalem, but they could actually be many miles away, with Jerusalem being used as a reference point for readers or viewers.

“I’ve been guiding [pilgrims] for 21 years, and I’ve had six pilgrimages this year with about 200 Americans,” said Father Peter. “They say at the end, “Where are all the problems?” I say “I’ve been saying that for years, and nobody believes me. Go and tell your people that it is safe to come to the Holy Land.”

“It’s not just a pious thing. The Lord takes care of you. You’re not coming here as a tourist, you’re coming here to seek the Lord, those holy places that you heard about from the pulpit when the priest was preaching. And now you’re there, and the Lord always takes care of His pilgrims.”

In all his years of leading pilgrimages on tours of the Holy Land, Father Peter said, not a single one of his pilgrims has ever been injured.

Identity Question

Americans who are unfamiliar with the Holy Land are easily confused by the notion of a Palestinian Arab, said Father Peter. But there are actual three aspects of identity to consider.

The race of these individuals is Arab, their nationality is Palestinian, and their religion is either Christian or Muslim. An Arab might be a Lebanese Christian or Muslim, or a Jordanian Christian or Muslim. An Arab might even be an Israeli Christian or Muslim.

Hamas Gains Power

Many people outside of the Middle East were surprised when Hamas – a Palestinian Islamic movement, considered a terrorist organization by the United States – achieved significant victories in the January Palestinian election.

“Let me tell you, they did not win because the people voted for them based on Islamic ideology. No, not at all,” said Father Peter. “The reason they won is because over the past 12 years, Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority, did nothing for the people. There was no infrastructure. No schools were built. No roads were paved. No houses were built. Where did the money go? It went into government salaries and expenditures-corruption on the part of the minister who took millions and millions and put them into Swiss bank accounts.”

Meanwhile, Hamas developed an extensive charitable network. When it came time to vote, the Palestinians – desperate, angry and beholden – voted for Hamas.

But here’s something Father Peter wants Americans to know: Hamas is limited. Of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Parliament, Hamas holds 74, and nine of those office holders are in Israeli prisons. That leaves the Hamas bloc with 65 votes – short of the 88 votes needed for a veto override.

Father Peter hopes that the Hamas’ election wins won’t deter the European Union and the United States from funding relief efforts conducted by non-governmental organizations.

“Obviously, [Hamas] has to renounce in its charter the destruction of Israel,” he said. How can you negotiate with a partner if you’re calling for their destruction? No, that’s a definite.”

April 2, 2006 The Catholic New World

Now president of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, Vasko, an imposing New Jersey native, finds himself trying to sell an idea: The need to support Christians living in the Holy Land.

The Foundation is a creation of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, which has been present in the area for 1,300 years and now administers 74 Christian Holy Sites.

The Custody benefits from annual Good Friday collections in U.S. Catholic churches, but that money is not available to help the dwindling population of Arab Christians who have lived in the Holy Land since the first century, Vasko said.

“This is where the Church began. Without the Church of Jerusalem, there would be no Church of Chicago or New York or Los Angeles or Berlin. The Church is not the building – it’s the living, worshipping community. Of course you want to maintain and preserve that heritage.”

The heritage is threatened, he said, by the ongoing and intractable conflict between the Israelis and mostly Muslim Palestinians. While both groups generally respect the Christian holy sites and Christian pilgrims, Israelis see local Christians as Palestinians, and thus as a threat, Palestinian Muslims see the Christians in their midst as having turned away from Islam and toward the West, Vasko said. While the United States gives or has given aid both to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, little if any trickles down to the Christian community.

That’s why the portion of the population that identifies itself as Christian has dropped from 13 percent in 1900 to less than 2 percent of what Jews do in Israel.

The Foundation was founded 10 years ago to give the Franciscans a way to respond to your Christians who asked for help paying for college or finding jobs or housing, Vasko said.

In the Foundation’s first decade, it has offered college scholarships to 86 Christian students. Of 40 who have graduated, 65 percent have jobs, he said. They are dentists, bankers and engineers, and they will help the community grow.

“We are trying to provide incentives for these young people to stay,” he said. Without young educated professionals, the situation would be dire, Vasko said. Of the 150,000 Christians who remain, about half are likely to leave no matter what support they are offered because they have connections in other countries.

“We’re focusing on those who stay,” Vasko said, “But we have to work through the generosity of American Catholics. They don’t have anyone else to turn to.”

To persuade people of the need, Vasko encourages American Catholics to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land either through the Foundation or other organizations. But if they do travel to the Holy Land, Catholics should make sure to use Christian service providers, he said. That benefits the Christian community economically, and it is also good for the pilgrims, because their guides know and share their faith, he said.

While he understands that the political situation might frighten some travelers, he said the Franciscans have never had a pilgrim harmed in the 21 years he has been there, through both Intifadas and both Gulf Wars.

“Going on pilgrimage is like an immigrant going back to her motherland,” said Vasko, who will guide a group of pilgrims from Chicago, led by Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Paprocki, who will be in the Holy Land during Holy Week this year. “It’s living the mysteries of the rosary.”

By Michelle Martin
Staff Writer

Younan has issued an appeal for Jews, Christians and Muslims to

respect each others' faith and religious traditions in Jerusalem

and the rest of the land of Jesus' birth. 

Bishop Younan wrote in an article published on 9 December in

Israel's daily Haaretz newspaper that an opportunity had been

missed in October with the rare convergence of the Jewish High

Holidays and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. 

Instead of shining the way towards reconciliation, Bishop Younan

wrote, the Jewish and Muslim holiday period "became a showcase

for exclusive claims of one religion over another, of freedom for

some at the expense of others". 

He noted that Palestinians were "locked behind barricades,

closed-off streets and even denied access to their holy sites"

during the Jewish holiday period. Israel often steps up security

around sites of pilgrimage for Jews during the Jewish New Year

period, including around the Western Wall.  

It also closes its frontier with the West Bank and Gaza Strip,

citing security reasons such as planned bomb attacks by

Palestinian militants. Thousands of pro-Israeli, evangelical

Christians also converge on the Holy City during that period to

participate in Feast of the Tabernacles celebrations. 

Bishop Younan said the Israeli security precautions hurt

Palestinian Muslims and Christians living in Jerusalem. "These

measures do not guarantee security: they only guarantee

inconvenience and humiliation and might increase the chance that

people might be  provoked," he wrote.  

The Palestinian-born Bishop, who studied in Finland, said it was

time for the three monotheistic faiths in the Holy Land to

practise mutual respect for each others' faiths. "If Jesus were

to look out at Jerusalem today, he would weep again over a

Jerusalem that is being turned into the exclusive realm of one

group at the expense of others," said Younan. 

He added that he wished for a time when Jews, Muslims and

Christians in the Holy Land "will be able to freely celebrate our

diverse, but equally sacred feasts".

Ecumenical News International 

Daily News Service

Apostolic Nuncio

Permanent Observer of the Holy See

Before the Special Political and Decolonization Committee

(Fourth Committee), on item 30:

United Nations Relief and Works Agency

for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Mr. Chairman,

My delegation, having carefully reviewed the Report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), expresses once again its appreciation for the work of the Agency during this time of significant challenges.

The Holy See willingly acknowledges the help that UNRWA offers all Palestinian refugees, without discrimination or reference to their religion, as is only just. Nevertheless, we are obliged this year to draw attention to the growing difficulties faced by Palestinian Christians who, although they belong to a faith born in that very land, are sometimes viewed with suspicion by their neighbours. Doubly discriminated against, it is hardly surprising to learn that this tiny group – less than 2% of the local Palestinian population – is particularly marginalised.

All Palestinians have the right to fair and fair-minded treatment from their peers and from the recognised authorities alike. Religious extremism of any kind, implicated in attacks, abuse and harassment of Christians in the area around Bethlehem recently, is not to be tolerated. No matter who is targeted by violence and bigotry, such acts are a stain on the conscience of peoples. It is thus the hope of my delegation that solutions will be found by local leaderships which will address the needs of all the members of local communities who suffer from violence.

Moreover, of ongoing concern is the security wall which cuts access to some Palestinians’ lands and water sources, as well as to employment, commerce, education, medical care and freedom of worship. My delegation freely acknowledges the right of all peoples to live in peace and security; on the other hand, we believe that the Holy Land is in greater need of bridges than of walls.

In the hope that the many problems of the region will be resolved by negotiation and dialogue, my delegation underlines that a lasting solution will include the question of the Holy City of Jerusalem. In light of the numerous incidents of violence and the challenge to free movement posed by the security wall, the Holy See renews its support for “…internationally guaranteed provisions to ensure the freedom of religion and of conscience of its inhabitants, as well as permanent, free and unhindered access to the Holy Places by the faithful of all religions and nationalities” (A/RES/ES-10/2).

Jerusalem is the acknowledged home of the three Abrahamic faiths, and whoever has custody of the Holy City has a particular responsibility for it before the international community. Borrowing the recent words of Pope Benedict XVI, we hope that Jerusalem will one day be “a home of harmony and peace” for all believers.

The time is long overdue for fraternal, open dialogue in order to bring about the birth of two states, side by side, mutually respecting each other’s right to exist and prosper. There have already been far too many innocent victims, be they Israeli or Palestinian, Jews, Christians and Moslems alike. Only with a just and lasting peace – not imposed, but secured through negotiation – will the legitimate aspirations of all the peoples of the Holy Land be fulfilled.

Thank you Mr. Chairman

Labor Force Contents/Analysis

The following tabulation is a brief of the direct labor force of the project.

Item Profession No.

1. Engineer 1

2. Skilled Labor 2

3. Normal Labor 3

Total Workers 6

Photos:

Picture 1: The External Stone Elevation                         Picture 2: Old Stone and Plastering  

Pictures 3 & 4: Internal plastering and painting

Labor Force Contents/Analysis

The following tabulation is a brief of the direct labor force of the project.

Item Profession No.

1. Engineer 1

2. Skilled Labor 2

3. Normal Labor 1

Total Workers 4

Photos:

This family of six will need an additional floor added to the roof as well as many repairs to the existing structure.  There is no glass in some of the windows and the water drips down from the roof and enters the living space creating damage and unhealthy living conditions. 

The following tabulation is a brief of the direct labor force of the project.

Item Profession No.

1. Engineer 1

2. Skilled Labor 2

3. Normal Labor 3

Total Workers 6

Photos:

	Sr. Maria and a member of the Foundation visit the family and their workshop.
Existing tin roof (to be replaced).  Working in this shop during the hot days is like working in an oven.
	The external block elevation

Labor Force Contents/Analysis

The following tabulation is a brief of the direct labor force of the project.

Item Profession No.

1. Engineer 1

2. Skilled Labor 2

3. Normal Labor 1

Total Workers 4

Photos:

Picture 1: The existing kitchen and its storage space viewed from the living room

click here to view the project information sheet

Labor Force Contents/Analysis

The following tabulation is a brief of the direct labor force of the project.

Item      Profession      No.

1.         Engineer         1

2.         Skilled Labor    3

3.         Normal Labor   3

Total Workers 7

Photos:

Picture 1 & 2 : The existing main entrance and view of the exisiting roof where the new floor will be constructed.