Renewing a promise” “

Representatives of the episcopates of England and Wales, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the USA, of the Council of the Episcopal Conference of Europe (CCEE) and the Commission of the episcopates of the European Community (COMECE) met in recent days with the patriarch of the Latins, Michel Sabbah, the Apostolic Nuncio in Israel, Pietro Sambi, and the representatives of the Christian Churches in the Holy Land, The meeting, held in Jerusalem from 14 to 16 January, was aimed at promoting interventions of the Churches in favour of the Christians who live in the Holy Land. It was coordinated by the representative of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, Archbishop Patrick Kelly of Liverpool. We report below a summary of the final message addressed by the bishops to the Christians of the Holy Land and the proposals that emerged during the summit. Christians, torn between fear and hope. “A year ago – write the bishops in their final message – we shared with you your sufferings and your cry for peace and justice. With great dismay, today, we are witnesses not of peace but of a greater violence and despair. The security measures are increasingly oppressive, unemployment has increased, as also has material and spiritual poverty. We are also witnesses of the great fear aroused by a possible war in Iraq”. In spite of this, continues the message, “we are reassured by your great desire for peace and justice and by the deep hope that inspires the courage of the many among you who are dedicated to reconciliation. But the continuous violence, in various forms, is a sign that something is profoundly wrong”. No one – declare the bishops – “can remain indifferent to the injustice of which the Palestinian people have been the victim for over 50 years”, just as “no one can contest Israel’s right to live in security”. We cannot forget “the innocent victims, of both peoples, who fall every day under the assaults of violence. Weapons and bloodshed will never be the right ways of solving disputes”. “When we return home – so the bishops pledge – we will ask our episcopal conferences, our humanitarian relief agencies and our associations of volunteer service to devote themselves increasingly to the cause of peace in the Holy Land. Unfortunately our attempts to revive pilgrimages to the Holy Places have only had a limited success. We wish to renew today the promise made a year ago. We will never cease to help you, brothers of Jerusalem, of Palestine, of Israel and of Jordan”. Not only spiritual aid. In the course of the summit, the bishops adopted a series of measures aimed at improving the conditions of life of the Christian communities in the region. In particular, the bishops believe a priority is the creation of “a transnational coordination to permit the greater diffusion of news from the Holy Places and to increase contacts with the Churches of the Holy Land, the Latin Patriarchate, the Nunciature and the heads of the Churches”. Information and proposals for action ought also, in the bishops’ view, “to be extended to other Episcopal Conferences and Catholic orgaanizations”. No less important is the contact between the national and local Churches, with the political and social Institutions and with public opinion. Other suggestions of how to help the Christians of the Holy Land were also endorsed: for example, “pilgrimages, genuine signs of not only spiritual but also material solidarity with Christians; the urgent need for material aid and transparency in its use; the expression of solidarity also at the ecumenical and interreligious level; and the insertion in the agenda of episcopal meetings of issues relating to the Holy Land”.