(CNA/EWTN News).- If you’re looking for a way to support Christians in the Holy Land, consider making a pilgrimage, advises an Italian cardinal who himself recently visited Palestine and Israel.
“I believe that we must step up the pilgrimages to the Holy Land,” Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa said in a recent interview with the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.
“This is possible and we need not be afraid. Our communities must overcome their fears and start visiting once more the places associated with the life of Jesus,” he said.
“That would be a major boost for the Christian communities in the Holy Land.”
Pilgrimages to the Holy Land seem to be already at an all-time high despite ongoing conflict in the region. Last year set a new record for tourism in the Holy Land, with the number of annual tourists hitting 4 million, according to some reports.
Even Pope Francis made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May 2014. His visit came just weeks before an outbreak of violence left more than 1,900 Palestinians dead, and 67 Israelis.
Cardinal Bagnasco traveled to the Holy Land earlier this month with the Italian bishops’ conference, of which he is president. His trip included a stop in Gaza, and in the Israeli city of Sderot, both of which were heavily affected by air raids and rockets in July and early August.
Despite the trauma and mass destruction, Cardinal Bagnasco said he was impressed by the spirit of the affected communities.
“There was the hope that I saw on the faces of so many children,” the cardinal explained. “It was like an explosion of joy.”
“There was also a sense of dignity and pride of the people, who need so much but ask for nothing.”
The cardinal said he was also impressed by the local Christian community’s devotion to the faith. The Christian population in the Holy Land has been on the steady decline. Reports from 2013 suggest Christians accounted for about eight percent of Israel’s population, and about one percent of the population of Palestine.
This sort of Christian diaspora is…