In the place where Pope Benedict XVI blessed the cornerstone in 2009, a new church in the Holy Land commemorating the Baptism of the Lord will be inaugurated on Friday.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, will represent Pope Francis at the inauguration of the Church of the Baptism of the Lord at Al-Maghtas in Jordan January 10. Cardinal Parolin will celebrate Mass, accompanied by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
The ceremony at the church on the Jordan River will include a dedication of the altar, in which will be placed relics of Pope St. John Paul II and the recently canonized Holy Martyrs of Damascus, among others. John Paul II visited Al-Maghtas in the year 2000, praying and blessing those gathered with water from the Jordan.
That visit was during John Paul's Jubilee pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Twenty-five years later, the Church is celebrating another Jubilee year -- the Jubilee of Hope. The Church of the Baptism of the Lord has been designated as a pilgrimage destination for the faithful to receive a plenary indulgence during the Jubilee.
In addition to John Paul and Benedict, Pope Francis visited here in 2014, during the Feast of the Baptism, where he presided in the Rite of the Renewal of the Baptismal Vows, sprinkling the faithful with the waters of the Jordan.
Land donated by Jordan's king
According to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the 2,200-square-meter Church of the Baptism of the Lord is one of the largest in the Middle East, able to accommodate 1,000 worshipers. It will be run by friars and nuns of the Institute of the Incarnate Word from Argentina, who will maintain the site, host pilgrims, and lead prayer and Masses.
The complex, built on land donated by King Abdullah II of Jordan, includes a church/shrine, two monasteries for friars and nuns, gardens, a visitor center, parking, a walkway, and the Hill of the Cross, which offers views of the Jerusalem Mountains.
The Jordanian king also donated land for other denominations to build churches at the Baptismal site. They include the Anglican, Armenian, Coptic, and Russian Churches.
Jordan's involvement in the project is especially tied to a 1995 meeting between Franciscan Fr. Michele Piccirrillo, an archaeologist who confirmed the location of Bethany Beyond the Jordan and the baptismal site of Jesus, and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, chief adviser to his cousin, King Abdullah, for religious and cultural affairs. UNESCO designated Al-Maghtas as a World Heritage Site in 2015.
The inauguration of the Catholic church will coincide with the 25th annual pilgrimage to Al-Maghtas, which takes place on the second Friday of January each year, close to the Latin Catholic feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The pilgrimage gives participants a chance to renew their baptismal vows.
Construction of the new church was overseen by former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal and Bishop Salim Sayegh. Donors included the Hungarian government and Nadim Muasher, a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, who dedicated the project to his son, who died in a car accident at the site.
Built with Tafouhi stone — yellowish stone from Hebron — the new church features stained-glass windows crafted in Lebanon in the style of Chartres Cathedral.
Looking toward another great anniversary
Asia News, a publication of the PIME Missionaries, noted that the inauguration of the church is an “important step towards another anniversary in this corner of the Holy Land; in fact, the Baptism Site is preparing to celebrate in 2030 two thousand years of Jesus' baptism in the waters of the Jordan River.”
Asia News adds this interesting detail:
With this in the agenda, everyone hopes that peace will allow many pilgrims to experience this important anniversary in this holy place in Jordan. Meanwhile, fresh spiritual proposals continue to be made, enriching the area.
Last summer, Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed, Chief Advisor to King Abdullah II for Religious and Cultural Affairs and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Baptism Site Authority, officially opened the Trail of John the Baptist, a footpath that runs for about three kilometers that includes seven different stations marked by biblical meditations.
It starts from Jabal Mar-Elias (Elijah's Hill), crossing the Wadi Al-Kharrar to the baptismal font, the Spring of John the Baptist and the remains of local churches built in ancient times in memory of the baptism of Jesus. The trail ends right at the Latin Church.
