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Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Holds Mass in Washington, DC

Holy Land Days and Holy Land Gift Sales

Shrine of St. Jude Living Stones Pilgrimage Itinerary April 27 – May 11, 2009

Child Sponsorship Program

"To such as these does the Kingdom of God belong!" Matthew 19:14

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• Christians in Holy Land in Crisis, Says Report; Warns of a Dwindling Presence

26-May-05 Zenit,

JERUSALEM, MAY 26, 2005 - A mix of poverty, discrimination and violence makes the future of Christianity in the Holy Land "hang by a thread," warns a German-based international charity.

The crisis of Christians in Israel "is so severe" that a team of officials from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) visited the country to see firsthand what assistance it could provide.

The team offered some suggestions in a report, sent to ZENIT, entitled "Israel: Christians in Crisis -- Faithful under Pressure from All Sides."

"The Christian presence in Israeli society is on the verge of disappearing into obscurity and could be at risk of disappearing altogether," the report says in blunt terms.

(Read more here)

• Radical Christian peacemakers arrive in Palestine and Israel

10-May-05 Ekklesia,

A new group of 18 radical Christians trained in nonviolent resistance have arrived in Palestine and Israel as part of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme.

The new arrivals bring the total number of ecumenical accompaniers, whose work was recently praised by former US president Jimmy Carter, to 22.

The eleven women and seven men in the new group range in age from 25 to 68. Five come from Norway, five from South Africa, three from Britain, three from Sweden and one each from France and Switzerland.

(Read more here)

• Joyful Journey to Christ

09-May-05 Vatican Radio,

800 Palestinian Christian children cross barriers and checkpoints to visit the Holy Sites in Jerusalem and pray for the first time at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre...>
http://105live.vaticanradio.org/en_menu.html

(Read more here)

• A Call from Jerusalem to the World; Palestinian Christians are dying to LIVE with dignity and freedom

04-Apr-05

Dear Bishops & Church Leaders,

Salaam and Grace to you from the city of our faith in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are writing to you as Palestinian Christian leaders concerned for the dramatic situation of the Christians in the land of the Holy One. In contrast to 10 years ago our community now represents less than 2% of the population and continues to decrease at an alarming rate. This is largely due to emigration. Many Palestinian Christians are leaving as a result of the ongoing conflict.

(Read more here)

• Franciscans and the Holy Land; Interview With Vicar of Custody

13-Mar-05 Zenit,

The Custody of the Holy Land was the first to promote dialogue and peace in the Middle East, a mission the Franciscans continue today, says a religious.

The Custody is part of the Order of Friars Minor that maintains 26 holy sites that represent the fundamental stages of the life of Christ and the Holy Family.

Father Artemio Vitores, vicar of the Custody, has been in the Holy Land for 34 years. The Custody today is composed of 200 Franciscans from 35 nations.

In this interview with ZENIT, Father Vitores talks about the development and mission of the Custody over the centuries.

Q: What legacy did St. Francis leave in the Holy Land?

Father Vitores: The destruction of the Holy Sepulcher by Caliph Hakim in A.D. 970 opened the doors to the age of the Crusades, that is, to war and blood. St. Francis preferred to conquer the holy sites through the method of dialogue.

(Read more here)

• There was a pogrom in Maghar

17-Feb-05 Ha'aretz, Amram Mitzna,

By the time these lines are printed, a few days after the events in the Galilee village of Maghar, there may be a need to remind most readers of what happened there. This past weekend, there was bitter strife in the village sparked by rumors that a Christian resident had posted falsified pictures of Druze young women in the nude on the Internet. Eventually it was determined that no such thing ever happened and that it was a false rumor spread by a 16-year-old Druze boy in response - he claimed - for having been cursed online by Christian villagers.

(Read more here)

• Catholic leaders: Israel has abandoned our security

17-Feb-05 Haaretz,

In a tough letter sent to President Moshe Katzav, Archbishop Michel Sabah
and Catholic leaders in Israel placed the responsibility for their security
on Israel's security forces.

In an interview with Haaretz, Sabah said that while Israel stationed an
entire army to guard a tiny group of settlers in Hebron, an entire
neighborhood in Maghar was almost destroyed without any reaction from the
police.

(Read more here)

• Fasting Also Needed in Politics, Says Jerusalem Latin Patriarch

11-Feb-05

Michel Sabbah Invites Authorities to Purify Their Intentions.
At the start of Lent, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem has invited "those who hold power" to fast, in order to "purify their intentions and their individual or national egoisms."

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem published an Ash Wednesday message of Patriarch Michel Sabbah that calls for conversion during the 40-day period leading up to Easter.

It is a time of fasting, a time "to submit one's body and will to an exercise whose purpose is to free us from compulsion and slavery," writes Patriarch Sabbah. "Through fasting, and by God's grace that never abandons us, we want to become free, capable of living according to the spirit and doing the good we want to do."

(Read more here)

• Churches Back Middle East Truce Hope

09-Feb-05 Ekklesia,

As Palestinian authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon today declared a truce seeking to end four years of Middle East violence, church leaders around the world affirmed the event as a signal of new hope for a just and peaceful settlement.

The National Council of Churches USA, which has recently sent a delegation of church leaders to the region, was among the first to respond positively. They have long favoured a bipartisan solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With 36 members, NCCUSA is the largest and broadest ecumenical association of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and African-American Christians in the United States, encompassing more than 100,000 local congregations in all 50 states.

(Read more here)

• U.S. Urged to Press Israel on Pact With Holy See; Episcopate President Sends Letter to Condoleezza Rice

19-Jan-05 Zenit,

The president of the U.S. bishops' conference has asked Condoleezza Rice to
exert pressure on Israel to comply with the agreements signed with the Holy
See.

"We are deeply dismayed by the lack of progress, and we fear a lack of
commitment, on the part of the Israeli government in negotiations with the
Holy See over economic matters and other vital concerns to the Catholic
Church and the wider Christian community in the Holy Land," affirms Bishop
William Skylstad in his letter to Secretary of State-designate Rice.

(Read more here)

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