“What inspires me whenever I come are the people that I meet who are so engaged in justice and peace and who continually point out the humanity in the other side and seek justice. Not only are they brave, they’re persistent, and they keep at it year in and year out. So that really inspires me.”

Reflecting on some of the changes that he has seen in his visits to the Holy Land over the last decade, the first thing that Archbishop Nolan noted was the undeniable worsening of the political situation, and the resulting trauma that this inflicts on the local communities:

“We’re now in a situation where after years of conflict and because of the recent wars, everyone is traumatised, so traumatised that they feel their own pain, but they’re not able to even see the pain in the other side. We’ll never make any peace or progress with peace until people start to appreciate that the other side is hurting as well and to recognise the humanity of that other side.”

Another challenge highlighted by Archbishop Nolan is the increasing lack of political good will in Israel for a two-state solution. He explained that at the heart of the conflict lies the fact that the Palestinians are living under a military occupation:

“Unless we try and resolve that conflict and we recognise that there are two peoples, Israeli and Palestinians, who both have the right to live in this land, then peace is still a long, long way off.”

Despite these challenges, Archbishop Nolan retains hope and believes the Church has a crucial role to play in making progress towards a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land:

“I think the Church is a great instrument here for trying to reconcile the communities and to try and establish peace. There is hope because people want peace. Everybody wants peace. No matter what side they’re on, they want peace. Until they start trusting one another and seeing the humanity in one another, then there’ll be no peace.”

One such example is the role religious sisters play, accompanying local communities through these difficult times:

“I’m amazed at the number of religious sisters there are in the Holy Land, and I’m amazed also at the good work they’re doing – not just for the Christian community, but for the broader community, for the Muslim community, for the Bedouin community as well.”

The Holy Land Co-ordination is a pilgrimage in solidarity with the local communities living there – particularly the Christians – the Living Stones. Archbishop Nolan closed his reflection by urging pilgrims to return to the Holy Land, emphasising that it is safe to do so and that it would be a strong sign of support for the local people.

“It is certainly time for the pilgrims to come back. If you want to support the people here in the Holy Land, particularly if you want to support the Christian community, so many of whom are involved in the pilgrim trade, then do come as a pilgrim. But come as a pilgrim also, because this is where we are from. This is where the Church began. This is the land of Jesus. This is our land. So do come and visit it.”

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His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, spoke to the group and took questions before celebrating Mass in the Co-Cathedral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

Shortly after Mass, Patriarch Pizzaballa gave us a short update on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank before encouraging pilgrims to return to the Holy Land on pilgrimage.

Patriarch:
The Christians in Gaza, not just Latin Christians, are 541 – a small number. The situation for them is actually stable, but always very problematic from a humanitarian point of view. They all live in the church compound, the Holy Family parish, because they have lost everything. They have no house, no school, no hospital – nothing. The church is the only shelter for all of them.

Question:
And in the wider West Bank, what challenges are you facing that are different from 12 months ago?

Patriarch:
The situation is more or less the same. It remains very problematic because the clashes between the settlers and the Palestinians are everyday news, unfortunately. And confiscation of land and many other problems between Palestinians and settlers are becoming a very serious problem. Also to get permits for movement is quite problematic.

Question:
And finally, I was struck by what you said about people coming back to these lands on pilgrimage. We were in Bethlehem the day before the Holy Land Co-ordination started, and it was actually very sad to see how few people were there and how the local people needed the economy to be boosted. So what would your message be to our people back home?

Patriarch:
I say to all our people, all the Christians all over the world, come here. The pilgrimage is safe. There is no reason to be afraid. Gaza is far away, and also in Gaza now there is a ceasefire. It’s about time to come back to the Holy Land, to enjoy the pilgrimage, and also to bring hope to the many Christian families who need to see your presence here.

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The Bishop delegates have learned of the struggles of Bedouin tribes in the West Bank and have celebrated Mass with the local Christians in Palestine’s only fully Christian town – Taybeh. They have listened to Jewish perspectives from groups like Rabbis for Human Rights and the Rossing Centre that advocates for interreligious peacebuilding. The group has also spent time with Hebrew-speaking Catholics at the Vicariate of St James in Jerusalem. 

Many perspectives have been heard, and many experiences shared. 

In a short video reflection, Bishop Curry processes what he’s heard over the past two days:  

“What we’re discovering is that Israel and Palestine – because of the 7 October attack, the war in Gaza, and the encroachment in the West Bank – are in a state of absolute shock and trauma. Communities have been paralysed. Conversations have stopped. And yet there are still small seeds of hope because communities and individuals are trying to reach out to each other, to re-engage with each other, to begin a process of healing – not ignoring what’s happened, seeking just solutions, seeking to embody the legitimate rights, both of Israel to security and safety, but also security and safety for the Palestinian people. 

“Because if those two peoples don’t have a mutual assurance of safety and respect, then the imbalance between them seems to promise yet more unease, more destructive behaviour, more a deterioration in the civic structure of this promised land.”

Solutions are in short supply, positions are entrenched, but Bishop Curry does recognise what true hope looks like: 

“The people we’ve met have shown a bravery, a faithfulness, a commitment to peace that is humbling. And the challenge they’ve given us is how can we be part of that peace? Hope is how we live. Hope is the choices we make. Hope is the way we treat each other. Hope is how we refrain from mistreating each other. Hope is who we are. And this land of promise is full of hope, but it’s a hope and a potential yet to be fully realised.”

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Reflecting on the Gospel message, Bishop Hudson said:

“It is our faith – that is to say, we believe – that the wine of God’s love has been poured into our hearts. He has made His home in us. We believe this of the sacraments too, most especially the Eucharist – that His love is literally poured into us as we take the cup and drink of it.  But we know too that we need to be changed by it; transfigured by love.”

Bishop Hudson shared the powerful experience of meeting with the Comboni Sisters on the first day of the Holy Land Co-ordination pilgrimage.

He said:

“The wine of divine life simply pours out of them and into the Bedouin they serve – to the point that the Bedouin women tell them, “You are the only ones who see us; it is you who give us hope.

“By their choice to live among the Bedouin the Sisters give them hope – a hope which might otherwise elude them.  It empowers the Bedouin to say, ‘We want to stay and we know you will help us to’.  What the Bedouin experience is the Sisters’ unconditional love.”

Full Homily

“New wine, fresh wineskins” (Mark 2, 22): if we wish to announce Christ, then we probably need to change. That is the message of this Gospel.

It is our faith – that is to say, we believe – that the wine of God’s love has been poured into our hearts.  We believe this of our relationship with Him.  For He has made His home in us.  We believe this of the sacraments too, most especially the Eucharist – that His love is literally poured into us as we take the cup and drink of it.  But we know too that we need to be changed by it; transfigured by love.

We met on Saturday two women transfigured by that love.  I mean the Comboni Sisters, Lourdes and Marisa.  We saw in them the fruit of that love; what happens when people allow themselves to be changed.  The wine of divine life simply pours out of them and into the Bedouin they serve – to the point that the Bedouin women tell them, “You are the only ones who see us; it is you who give us hope.”

Hope and trust are very close relatives.  The Bedouin clearly trust the Comboni Sisters – to the point that the Bedouin men even allowed us to meet the women alone.  That trust is rooted in the choice the Comboni Sisters have made – to live among them.  Pope Leo says, in Dilexi te, “A decision to live among the poor should be deemed one of the highest forms of the evangelical life.” (101)  The evangelising power of their decision is attested to by the Muslim women who tell them, “The Lord’s Prayer which you teach us contains everything.”

By their choice to live among the Bedouin the Sisters give them hope – a hope which might otherwise elude them.  It empowers the Bedouin to say, “We want to stay and we know you will help us to.”  What the Bedouin experience is the Sisters’ unconditional love. 

Through these Sisters, the Bedouin hear the words of Jesus himself, the words which inspired Pope Leo’s text, words to be found at the very end of the Bible, in the Book of Revelation, where Jesus assures us, “I have loved you”, Dilexi te. (Rev. 3, 9).  Through their lives, these Sisters are telling the Bedouin, “Know that He has loved you.”  Through these Sisters, the Lord Himself is telling them, “I have loved you”.  And it is beautiful to behold.

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Pressure has been ramping up on the Latin Catholic community over the past 12 months – especially in June 2025 when settler attacks as well as an increase in checkpoints led to a marked deterioration in the quality of life for the Christians and their neighbours.

Olive trees have been destroyed, cars have been set alight in the violence that goes unchecked by the authorities.

“We are facing a very bad situation because we are Palestinians,” says Fr Bashar. “Here, they’re starting to occupy more land, grazing their cows and sheep on our land, and also setting fire to cars.”

“They burn fire also behind the ruins of St George El Khader Church. This Church is from the fifth century.”

The Bishops celebrated Mass with the local community, meeting local Christian families and hearing first-hand their struggles.

In this interview, Fr Bashar explains that the community is resilient but they are also challenged by their numbers diminishing as people move away.  

“We are ‘bleeding’ because of migration because the people are afraid – a lot of people are thinking about their future – the future of their kids. We don’t have the opportunity to support our people and to stop all of these attacks. But we thank all the people, all the diplomatic missions, all the churches, all the heads of the churches who still give us a lot of love, a lot of support, a lot of encouragement, and a lot of solidarity. We still need this solidarity and this encouragement to stay in this land. 

“The churches still also exist, in all dimensions of the life of the people here in Taybeh and everywhere. We are here because we are Church, and the Church has continued her presence with commitment and resilience.”

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The first activity in the programme was a visit to the Comboni Sisters to witness their pastoral and humanitarian ministry among Bedouin communities, marked by long-term presence, care for families, and a quiet commitment to dignity and justice at the margins of society.

Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Moderator of the Holy Land Co-ordination, offered his reflections after a day spent with clans of a Bedouin tribe in Palestine.

Moved by the poverty of the Bedouin people, Bishop Hudson reflected on their closeness to the desert and their life on the margins of society.

He said:

“As soon as you arrive, they’re very close to the desert – the desert where Jesus went to pray at his most critical moments, and you say to yourself, ‘These people really are on the margins of society.’ Then you’re struck by the joy as you come together to meet with them and introduce yourselves. When they began to share with us what the Comboni Sisters give them – the hope that they give them – I said to myself, ‘What a good place for us to start our Holy Land Co-ordination,’ because the theme is Encounters of Hope, people who give us hope in the Holy Land. The Comboni Sisters really are witnesses to hope.”

Bishop Hudson was particularly struck to hear a Bedouin woman say to the Comboni Sisters who stand alongside them and work to improve their lives, “Nobody sees us – only you.”

Bishop Hudson’s response was a simple and powerful one. “We were able to say, ‘Well, we’ve come to tell you that we see you, too, and we won’t forget you.'”

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In this video, Sister Lourdes Garcia MCS talks about how the Comboni Sisters stand alongside clans of the Jahalin Bedouin tribe in the West Bank.

She said:

“They have told us so many times, ‘Sisters, your presence is important, and we feel it’,” says Sister Lourdes. “Even if we cannot directly evangelise to them, I think they value our presence, and they know, as they have said many times, ‘We are one family. All of us, we are children of God’.”

Rapidly expanding Settlements surround the simple-living, nomadic Bedouin tribe and attacks and intimidation are a major problem for the community. However, all the Bedouin want to do is live in peace.

Sr Lourdes explained:

“The Bedouin women have said, ‘Sister, we show our children that we are always smiling and that we are at peace… we don’t have another option. We are afraid during the night, but the next day, it has to be different for us. I mean, to live like that in joyful way, it means that for our children, they will receive this.’ So this is amazing because when I heard them to say that, I saw it was true. You can see all the time they are smiling. They said, ‘We don’t have another option. We cannot suffer all the time.’… This is the resilience that they have.”

A local Bedouin leader, Abu Suleiman, who coordinates a Bedouin organisation called Silver Tent, also gave a brief message to people in the UK.

He said:

“My message to our friends in your country is to look after the Bedouin. The British, when they were here in Palestine, or in Jordan, they looked after the Bedouin – they helped the Bedouin in the Middle East.”

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The theme for the visit, inspired by the Church’s recent Jubilee Year, is: A Land of Promise: Encounter and Dialogue with People of Hope.

The Holy Land Co-ordination is a pastoral and ecclesial gathering, rooted in prayer, reflection, and attentive listening to the Christian communities and peoples of the Holy Land. The celebration of Mass is central to each day and shapes the rhythm of the meeting. 

Bishops attending will represent the Episcopal Conferences of England and Wales, Italy, Germany, the Nordic countries, Ireland, France, the United States, Scotland, Canada, and Spain.

Delegates from the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) and the Anglican Church will also attend, alongside representatives of Catholic organisations working to support the region’s people.

The meeting will be moderated by Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Bishop of Plymouth and Chair of the International Department of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.  

The visit will combine meetings with representatives of the local Church with pastoral visits and encounter with local communities. A particular emphasis is placed on support, solidarity and care for the Living Stones – the Christians of the region.

Programme

A busy programme includes a visit to the Comboni Sisters to witness their pastoral and humanitarian ministry among Bedouin communities, marked by long-term presence, care for families, and a quiet commitment to dignity and justice at the margins of society. The Sisters’ work supporting Bedouin women was recently recognised with a Caritas Internationalis ‘Weavers of Hope’ award.

The local Church features prominently in the programme. The bishops meet with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and the Apostolic Nuncio to Israel, His Excellency Archbishop Yilana, who is also Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine.

They will also participate in an online meeting with Fr Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest serving the small Catholic community in Gaza that sheltered hundreds who lost their homes during the conflict.

Further meetings will take place with the Saint James Vicariate, with members of the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, and with Rabbis for Human Rights. Delegates will also hear about the work and ministry of the John Paul II Foundation, which focuses on human and community advancement.  

Additional pastoral visits include the Ephpheta Paul VI Institute in Bethlehem, which provides rehabilitation and education for deaf children from across the Palestinian Territories, and the Taybeh Elderly Home.

The delegation will visit the Latin Patriarchal Seminary which forms the future pastoral life of the local Church through prayer, study, and service, supporting both ordained ministry and Lay Adult Formation for service across the Holy Land in demanding circumstances.

Finally, a meeting will take place with the Parents Circle – Families Forum, a joint Israeli–Palestinian organisation of more than 800 bereaved families, all of whom have lost an immediate family member to the ongoing conflict. In the midst of profound personal loss, members of the Parents Circle have chosen a courageous path: to transform their grief into a commitment to reconciliation, dialogue, and peace.

A vital element of every Co-ordination meeting is celebrating Sunday Mass with a local community. This year, the bishops will celebrate Mass with the parishioners of Christ the Redeemer in Taybeh, spending the day in the village to listen, to share life, and to hear directly of the challenges faced by its people.

Bishop Delegates

Rt Rev Nicholas Hudson
Bishop of Plymouth
Moderator of the Holy Land Coordination
Chair of the International Affairs Department, Bishops’ Conference
England and Wales

Rt Rev Nicolo Anselmi
Bishop of Rimini
Italy

Most Rev Udo Bentz
Archbishop of Paderborn
Germany

Rt Rev Peter Burcher
Bishop Emeritus of Reykjavik
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland

Rt Rev James Curry
Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster.
International Affairs Department, Bishops’ Conference.
England and Wales

Rt Rev Paul Dempsey
Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin
Ireland

Rt Rev Michel Dubost C.I.M.
Bishop Emeritus of Evry-Corbeil-Essonnes.
France

Most Rev Antoine Herouard
Archbishop of Dijon
Co-President of Justice & Peace, Europe
Vice-President of COMECE
France

Rt Rev Joseph Kopacz
Bishop of Jackson
International Justice and Peace Department, Bishops’ Conference
United States of America

Most Rev William Nolan
Archbishop of Glasgow
Justice and Peace Scotland
Scotland

Rt Rev Christian Rodembourg M.S.A.
Bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe
Canada

Most Rev Joan Enric Vives Sicilia
Bishop Emeritus of Urgell
Spain

Rt Rev Abdallah Elias Zaidan
Bishop of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon
Chair of the Committee on International Justice and Peace, Bishops’ Conference
United States of America

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On his first day in the Holy Land, Bishop Hudson, moderator of the annual Holy Land Co-ordination meeting, brought his prayers for a lasting and sustained peace to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

“It was a sad privilege, in a way, to go down into the grotto where Christ came into the world over 2,000 years ago, but it offered the consolation that we were able to pray deeply.

“I prayed there for peace, and as I knelt before the star – the star of hope that marks the place of Jesus’s birth – I prayed so deeply to the Prince of Peace that He might help this ceasefire to hold… I prayed as well for the families on either side that they might be reunited. I prayed that aid might now be allowed to flow into Gaza – poor, beleaguered Gaza – and that people on both sides of the conflict might now be able to rebuild their lives.”

The Holy Land Coordination, organised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales through its Department for International Affairs, is an annual meeting of bishops from around the world that is defined by four Ps – presence, prayer, pilgrimage, and pressure. Bishop James Curry, an auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, is joining the group for the first time. The Co-ordination runs from 18-23 January.

On Thursday, Bishop Hudson and Bishop Curry alongside staff from the Bishops’ Conference, visited two projects in Bethlehem. The first stop was St Martha’s House, a day-care centre for elderly Christian ladies, mostly widows, who enjoy companionship and therapies provided by specialist staff and volunteers, including healthcare checks, haircare, podiatry, arts and crafts, and more. The group were the first visitors since October 2023 and there were smiles, tears and even dancing – almost a distraction from the suffering and difficulties that had come before.

Bishop Hudson led a small group to visit the Bethlehem Care and Hospice Trust, a Catholic charity registered in England and Wales, and Scotland, set up to bring compassionate care to those with life-limiting illness in the West Bank.

“The Bethlehem Care and Hospice Trust is a wonderful Christian initiative, with a number of Muslim volunteers and staff coming alongside them in their care for those who have terminal illnesses. It’s a model of palliative care, which I describe a bit like ‘hospice at home’, because it’s our hospice model from Western Europe adapted to a Middle East conviction that people who have terminal illnesses should be able to be looked after at home right until they die.

“We met the palliative team and went out with them to two different families to visit two elderly people who were dying, and I was able to bless them.”

Bishop Hudson’s final observation focussed on the obvious lack of pilgrims on the streets of both Jerusalem and Bethlehem:

“It brought home to me how hard it has been for places like Bethlehem these last 15 months, to not have pilgrims come to be with them, to not be able to support them economically – whether in cafés or shops – or to support St Martha’s House, or the hospice team. They were all saying the same thing, ‘You’re the first people who have come for such a long time. Thank you for coming. We need you to come more often.’ In a sense, it touched on one of our other Ps, the ‘P’ of pilgrimage, which we’ll be talking about more often during this Holy Land Co-ordination. We need to find ways of coming to be ‘present’ on pilgrimage now in the Holy Land – especially now that the ceasefire has been signed.”

The Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, the local Church leaders, issued a declaration on the ceasefire in Gaza on 16 January 2025.

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However, we are aware that the end of the war does not mean the end of the conflict. It is therefore necessary to seriously and credibly address the deep-rooted issues that have been at the root of this conflict for far too long. Genuine and lasting peace can only be achieved through a just solution that addresses the origin of this long-standing struggle. This requires 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.

We pray that this ceasefire will bring a sense of serenity and relief to all. May this moment of calm allow all to find solace, rebuild their lives and regain hope for the future.

We sincerely hope that this ceasefire marks the beginning of a new path towards reconciliation, justice and sustainable peace. May this be the first step on a path that promotes healing and unity among all the people of the Holy Land.

We eagerly await the return of pilgrims to the Holy Places in the Holy Land. The Holy Places are meant to be places of prayer and peace, and we long for the day when pilgrims can visit them again in safety and spiritual joy.

Despite the pain we have suffered, we continue to look to the future with unwavering hope. May this ceasefire inspire new efforts for dialog, mutual understanding and lasting peace for all. At the beginning of the Jubilee Year dedicated to hope that does not disappoint, we read in this event a sign that reminds us of God’s faithfulness.

Finally, we call on political leaders and the international community to develop a clear and just political vision for the post-war period. A future built on dignity, security and freedom for all peoples is a prerequisite for true and lasting peace. We urge all parties to implement the immediate steps and negotiate the future steps of the agreement in good faith.

May the Lord bless this land with peace and lead us all on the path of reconciliation and healing.

Source: lpj.org

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