In a Jubilee Year dedicated to the Christian virtue of hope, pilgrims from around the world are being encouraged to go to the Holy Land, not only to help give beleaguered Christian residents hope but to strengthen their own faith and hope.
A group of British bishops just did that very thing and are encouraging Christians around the world to do likewise.
Since 1998, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has organized a meeting every January in the Holy Land called the Co-ordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land. Mandated by the Holy See, it is usually referred to as the Holy Land Co-ordination. It aims to act in solidarity with the Christian communities there and shares in the pastoral life of the local Church as it experiences extreme political and social-economic pressure.
When the group landed in Tel Aviv and turned on their phones, they learned that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas had just been signed.
The delegation this year included bishops from Germany, Scandinavia, and Andorra, as well as Bishop Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Los Angeles.
“We came to the Holy Land, this Jubilee Year, as pilgrims of hope. We came in hope that a fragile ceasefire agreement, announced as we travelled here, would hold,” the bishops said in their final communique, issued January 23.
"You are not alone"
The communique was addressed mostly to the people of the Holy Land. The bishops told them:
“We came to tell you that you are not alone; that you are not forgotten. Your faith and resilience strengthen our own faith. We hope that our coming among you encourages you and will inspire Christians from our different countries to return to the Holy Land on pilgrimage. We hope that pilgrims will journey not only to the Holy Sites of Jerusalem, Galilee and Bethlehem, but that they will also come to visit communities like Aboud, Ephraim-Taybeh, and Ramallah so they too can draw inspiration from your faithfulness to the Land in which Jesus was born.”
The delegation met with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem; visited the site of the birthplace of Christ in Bethlehem, and two projects in that West Bank city: St. Martha’s House, a day-care center for elderly Christian women, and the Bethlehem Care and Hospice Trust, a Catholic charity bringing compassionate care to those with life-limiting illness in the West Bank. They celebrated Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Church in Aboud, north of Ramallah.
During their visit, the delegation engaged with parishioners, listening to their stories and needs to gain a deeper understanding of the lives of Christians in the Holy Land.
They also spoke with Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of Holy Family Parish in Gaza, who “impressed upon us the devastation being experienced by the whole population.”
While in the Holy Land, the bishops said, they noticed “widespread concern at the fragility of the ceasefire” and the lack of pilgrims.
They took note of the increased economic difficulties people are experiencing in the West Bank and how Israeli settlements are encroaching on Palestinian lands.
“We saw how settlements, illegal under international law, which were once enclaves have grown to surround you to make enclaves now of your communities,” the communique said, addressing West Bank residents.
“We hear your cry for peace with justice and your anxiety at what will happen when the focus turns away from Gaza; what will happen to your land. There is a clear need for the international community to act together to facilitate realistic and radical development assistance, as part of a process towards achieving a lasting peace.”
The statement concluded by saying that the British bishops join with Patriarch Pizzaballa and the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land in their hope that the ceasefire amounts to more than a pause in hostilities and marks the start of a genuine and lasting peace.
Said the bishops: “We share their conviction that this can only be achieved ‘through a just solution that addresses the origin of this long-standing struggle; (that it will require) a long process, a willingness to acknowledge each other’s suffering and a focused education in trust that leads to overcoming fear of the other and the justification of violence as a political tool.’”
