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On Thursday 7 January, the Bishops will visit the small Christian community in Gaza, celebrating mass at the parish of the Holy Family; they will then meet with parishioners, visit the school of the Holy Rosary Sisters and various other projects helping people to rebuild their lives following the most recent conflict in 2014.

The Bishops are returning for the third consecutive year during which time the conflict of 2014 led to the deaths of over 2,000 Gazans – including over 500 children and a third of the population internally displaced. The Christian community is made up of 2,500 people, of whom Catholics number around 200.

Bethlehem

The Bishops will then return to Bethlehem where they will celebrate mass and visit the Christian community of Beit Jala, who have suffered the loss of land and livelihood following the annexation of their property and the building of a Separation Wall in the Cremisan Valley.

Jordan

The focus of the remainder of the visit will be Jordan and the refugees who have been forced out of their homes as a result of the ongoing conflict in Syria and Iraq. The United Nations puts the total number of refugees currently in Jordan at just over one million people, the vast majority of whom are Syrian. The Bishops will arrive in Jordan on 10 January, leaving on 14 January.

The Holy Land Coordination was set up at the invitation of the Holy See at the end of the last century to offer support to the local Christian communities of the Holy Land. For the past 15 years the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales have organised the visit and this year the Co-ordination will be led by Bishop Declan Lang, Bishop of Clifton.

Bishops of the Holy Land Coordination 2016

England and Wales – Bishop Declan Lang
Canada – Bishop Lionel Gendron
France – Bishop Michel Dubost
Germany – Bishop Thomas Renz
Ireland – Bishop John McAreavey
Italy – Bishop Rodolfo Cetoloni
Scandinavia – Bishop Peter Burcher
Scotland – Bishop William Nolan
South Africa – Archbishop Stephen Brislin
Spain – Archbishop Joan Vives
Switzerland – Bishop Felix Gmur
United States of America – Bishop Oscar Cantu
Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community – Bishop William Kenney
Church of England – Bishop Christopher Chessun

Background

The Holy Land Coordination, made up of bishops from across Europe, North America and South Africa, was set up at the end of the twentieth century at the invitation of the Holy See. The purpose was to visit and support the local Christian communities of the Holy Land.

The Coordination’s main remit has been expressed as ‘the 3 Ps’: Prayer, Pilgrimage and Pressure. Perhaps there could be a fourth P: Presence. The bishops are present every year, and by their presence they hope, above all else, to remind the “living stones” of the Christian communities in the Holy Land that they are not forgotten by their brothers and sisters in other parts of the world.

The Coordination is not seen by the Holy See or its members as a fund-raising or project-based body, although considerable development investment and growth in pilgrimages have developed directly as a result of the bishops’ visits.

Prayer is the framework of the annual meeting, with daily celebration of the Eucharist, often in different rites, and in some years it has involved celebration in common of the Liturgy of the Hours.

Pilgrimage is one of the most interesting and informative aspects of the annual meeting. Bishops go either individually or in groups to visit Catholic communities and share in their Sunday liturgy, meeting members of the local community and sometimes local political figures. In difficult times, the visiting bishops have often heard pleas for more pilgrims to come from their home countries, and there has been a concerted and successful effort on the part of bishops’ conferences to encourage pilgrimages.

Pressure, a softer version of which might be Persuasion, refers to the work to be done after the annual meeting, when bishops go home and speak to their own governments, parliamentarians, Israeli and Palestinian ambassadors and the media about a wide range of issues affecting the lives of Christians.

In line with the approach the Holy See adopts everywhere else, the bishops do not seek privileges for Christians, but dignity and justice for them and for others in similar conflicts.

This year’s meeting will focus on the situation of vulnerable Christians especially those who have been forced to flee their homeland and seek shelter elsewhere. The Coordination will also continue to focus on the situation in Gaza and issues around the Cremisan Valley. The Coordination will also visit the Local Church in Jordan.

The Holy Land Co-ordination’s annual meeting is taking place in Bethlehem and Jordan from 9 – 14 January 2016 with a pre-Coordination visit to Gaza from 7 – 8 January.

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The European bishops visited the Christian communities in Nazareth, Mil’ya (a town near the Israeli-Lebanese border) and Bethlehem, to hear first-hand the experiences, joys and sufferings of Christian families living there. They also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Dr Reuven Rivlin.

Cardinal Nichols and Archbishop Martin said they were deeply moved by their encounters with Christians in both Israel and Palestine and they both undertook to bring back to their faithful in England, Wales and Ireland the heartfelt wishes of Christians in the Holy Land to live in peace with a sustained hope for safety and a realistic long- term future for their families and children.

They said: “We came as pilgrims to the some of the most sacred places for Christianity. We wanted to express our closeness and concern for the communities who live there and to pray with them and for them. We were met by Christian communities who have a deep love and attachment to the homes and towns in which they and their ancestors have been living for many centuries. The Christian qualities of charity, hospitality, faith and hope shone out on the faces of the people, young and old. They yearn for peace and the stability of knowing that their property and livelihoods will be protected. In Nazareth and Mil’ya we were overwhelmed by the youthful dynamism of their faith which was evident in their prayers and singing. In Beit-Jala, at the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation, which specialises in care for disabled people, we witnessed first-hand the healing outreach of Christian people who seek to build bridges through health and education. However at times we also sensed the isolation that Christian communities are experiencing – their fear of being neglected or even forgotten by their brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. We heard accounts of so many families who have already left because of fear or lack of confidence in a prosperous future for their children and grandchildren.”

“Among the causes of concern we heard is the situation of the Christian schools in Israel which are facing a real crisis. At Nazareth young people, teachers, parents and pastors spoke to us of their struggle to keep their Christian schools open because of being faced with impossible cuts to the state grant. They have been ‘on strike’ since 1st September and the children have not been having any lessons. The sustainability of their schools is critical to the well-being, identity and confidence of these Christian communities. We communicated these concerns to President Rivlin when we met him. We also heard from the Latin Patriarch about the widespread dismay and exasperation at the continuing construction of the wall in the Cremisan Valley on the border between Israel and the West Bank. 58 Christian families will be separated from their lands and their means of livelihood.”

“It is important for all of us in Ireland, England and Wales to be fully aware and supportive of our brothers and sisters who live with such fear and uncertainty. We also have to recognise the threats faced by the State of Israel and the fear that is constantly in the minds of its people. The Christian communities, which were the special focus of our visit, are a tremendous resource for the future of the Holy Land. Their communities are vibrant, their schools are among the top-performing in the area.”

“Both President Abbas and President Rivlin expressed their appreciation for the initiative and closeness of Pope Francis in their efforts to build peace. We were heartened to hear them both speak to us of their desires for peace. We hope that they will redouble their efforts to find a solution to the problems in the region that fully respects the right of all its peoples, Jewish, Christian and Muslim, to live together in peace.”

“For our part we encourage the faithful in our countries to keep the Christian people of the Holy Land in their prayers and also support them through charitable outreach from parishes as pilgrims to the Holy Places. Pilgrimages are visible and concrete ways of showing solidarity and harmony with the Christian people of the land in which Jesus himself lived.

Archbishop Eamon Martin
Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland
President of the Irish Episcopal Conference

Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster
President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales

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The Most Rev Patrick Kelly, Archbishop Emeritus of Liverpool, gave the introduction and homily.

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Read Archbishop Kelly’s homily and the poem he refers to, The Shroud by George Every by using the links below.

Bethlehem Carmel Homily -120115

The Shroud

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Since the Bishops’ visit last year, the conflict last summer saw over 2,000 Gazans killed, including over 500 children. The United Nations estimated over 30% of the population were internally displaced as a result of the fighting.

The Christian community of Gaza is made up of 2,500 people, of whom Catholics number around 200, in a total population of over 1.5 million. Religious sisters run a home for the elderly, a centre for the disabled and a kindergarten and with the parish of the Holy Family are also involved in the running of the Catholic schools for the community. After celebrating mass with the Catholic community, the Bishops will visit Christian schools and hospitals to offer their support to the teachers and medical staff.

Following the two day visit to Gaza, the Bishops will go on to Sderot, an Israeli town hit by rockets fired from Gaza during the conflict and then on to Bethlehem, where they will be based for the remainder of the visit. On Tuesday 13 January, the Bishops will visit Hebron. They will also return to the Cremisan valley, where the planned building of an Israeli security wall threatens the livelihoods of over 50 Christian families based in Beit Sahour and Beit Jala (in the Bethlehem area).

On Wednesday 14 January, there will be visits to projects in the Bethlehem area, followed by a visit to Bethlehem University, where they will meet with students and staff, and to the seminary in Beit Jala.

During the visit, the Bishops of the Holy Land Co-ordination will meet with His Beatitude Patriarch Twal and the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Lanzarotto.

The Bishops who will take part in this year’s Holy Land Co-ordination are:

Bishop Declan Lang, England & Wales (chair)
Archbishop Ricardo Fontana, Italy
Archbishop Joan Vives, Spain
Archbishop Patrick Kelly, England & Wales
Archbishop Stephen Brislin, South Africa
Bishop Michel Dubost, France
Bishop Oscar Cantu, United States
Bishop Lionel Gendron, Canada
Bishop William Kenney, England & Wales
Bishop Stephen Ackermann, Germany
Bishop Thomas Renz, Germany
Bishop Raymond Browne, Ireland
Bishop Kieran O’Reilly, Ireland
Bishop Peter Burcher, Scandinavia
Bishop Felix Gmur, Switzerland
Bishop Christopher Chessun, Church of England

About the Holy Land Co-ordination
Since 1998, the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has organised the annual meeting of the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land and at the invitation of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land. It’s often more simply called the Holy Land Co-ordination.

Mandated by the Holy See, the Holy Land Co-ordination meets every January in the Holy Land, focusing on prayer, pilgrimage and persuasion with the aim of acting in solidarity with the Christian community there and sharing in the pastoral life of the local Church as it experiences intense political and social-economic pressure.

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Cardinal Nichols said:

“Many of our Catholic parishes will hold an hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament at exactly the time when Pope Francis is meeting the Christian communities in Bethlehem itself.

“I do encourage you, please, to use that hour on Sunday 25 May – the hour between 3 o’clock and 4 o’clock in prayer – so that we are in absolute solidarity with Pope Francis and with the Christians of Bethlehem as they meet together.”

The Cardinal also spoke of the importance of supporting the Pope’s mission and of “praying for peace” in the Holy Land.

The Pope’s three day visit to the Holy Land begins on Saturday 24 May – the intense programme includes a visit to Jordan, Palestine and Israel.

Pope Francis will encounter the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Jerusalem – a meeting which will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the meeting between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagorus. They will sign a joint declaration and then preside at an ecumenical prayer service at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre together with other Christian leaders.

The ecumenical dimension of this visit is central so Anglican churches across England and Wales will also follow the call from Friends of the Holy Land to hold an hour of prayer to coincide with the exact time that Pope Francis is meeting with Christian families in the Holy Land.

About the visit, Chair of the Department for Dialogue and Unity, Archbishop Bernard Longley said:

“The meeting of Pope Francis later this month in the Holy Land with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew marks a very significant step on the road to Christian unity.

“This year sees the 50th anniversary of the two great documents of Vatican II on ecumenism and inter-religious relations ‘Unitatis Redintegratio’ and ‘Nostra Aetate’.

“This meeting will mark the 50th anniversary of the meeting of Pope Paul VI, soon to be beatified, with Patriarch Athenagoras which paved the way for the Catholic Church’s commitment to dialogue with the Byzantine Orthodox Churches. The forthcoming meeting should have a similarly encouraging and inspiring impact on our relations and our dialogue at national and international levels today.

“I hope that the Holy Father and Patriarch Bartholomew will draw attention to the struggling Christian communities of the Holy Land. I am delighted that many of our parishes will pray in solidarity with Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch on the afternoon of Sunday 25th May. I am also grateful for all that the Friends of the Holy Land have been doing to highlight this important visit and ecumenical encounter.”

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The Holy Father went on to say that the main purpose of the trip is to commemorate the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, which took place on January 5th , 50 years ago.

During his journey, Pope Francis told those present, that he would be visiting Amman, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. He also said there would be an Ecumenical Meeting held at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with the representatives of the Christian Churches of Jerusalem, together with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. He ended his announcement by saying, “As of now I ask you to pray for this pilgrimage.”

Before the Angelus the Pope described how Christmas reveals the immense love God has for humanity. He added that “with the birth of Jesus not only is a new world born, but it is also a world that can always be renewed . God, said Pope Francis, is always present to nurture men and women and to cleanse the world of sin and he stressed that Jesus does not give up on us and never ceases to offer himself and his grace that saves us. The Holy Father concluded by thanking all those who had sent him messages of good wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

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