European Churches" "
“We wanted to discover at first hand what the living conditions of Christians in the Holy Land are like to be able to give them the right aid”. That’s the comment of Msgr. Giuseppe Betori, general secretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), at the end of the recent pilgrimage (22-25 April) of Italian bishops to the Holy Land. The main tasks listed by Bertori include the need to raise the awareness of church communities in Italy “so that they may return to the Holy Places” and the appeal to the organizations of retailers, artisans and trades unions “to launch projects of partnership with the Christians of the Holy Land. The CEI had already made commitments to fund educational programmes and study grants”. Indeed, over the last five years the CEI has allocated, from the percentage of income tax devolved to it, some five million euros to fund welfare, educational and training projects in the Holy Land. The political situation and the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians have been commented on by Msgr. Pietro Sambi, nuncio apostolic in Israel. In his view, “the agreement between Arafat and the new prime minister Abu Mazen is only the first step towards a solution of the Middle Eastern crisis”. Meanwhile the Quartet, i.e. the UNO, USA, Russia and the European Union, is continuing its efforts to promote the roadmap for peace aimed at leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005. “It’s a positive step says Msgr. Sambi which is not yet the solution. Experience teaches us to be prudent”.
