“Peace on earth” is the name of the mission to the Holy Land of 20 young people, chosen by the national Service of youth apostolate of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and by the national office for missionary cooperation between the Churches. A mission for peace, explain the organizers, “with the objectives of bearing witness to the Italian Church’s solidarity with the Holy Places, distributing 500 copies of “Pacem in Terris” in Arabic and Hebrew to the two religious communities and to all young Christians in Palestine, and contacting the local structures of the Church to understand their needs and resources and identify possible micro-projects”. The mission, which began on 9 April and will end on 16 April, has a tightly packed programme, comprising moments of prayer and celebration together with visits to the places associated with the life of Jesus: Nazareth, Mount Tabor, Mount of the Beatitudes, Tabga, Capernaum, Lake of Tiberias, Jericho, Bethlehem, Jerusalem. Meetings are also planned with local families and youth, as well as with the apostolic Nuncio in Jerusalem, Msgr. Pietro Sambi, with the Custodian of the Holy Land, Father Giovanni Battistelli and with the Latin Patriarch Msgr. Michel Sabbah.
