The autumn plenary session of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference will be held in the Holy Land from 4 to 10 November, as “sign of solidarity with the Christians of the country who are going through a difficult situation”. The decision to hold their next plenary in the Holy Land was taken by the Austrian bishops at their last assembly, held in Mariazell from 18 to 20 June. The decision is explained in the final declaration, issued only after the end of the meeting. In this document the Austrian bishops underline that “the presence of living Christian communities in the Holy Land is of great importance for Christianity as a whole”. “If only ‘museum records’ of the history of Jesus and of the original Church remain in the Holy Land, the Christian faith would be cut off from its roots”. By this gesture the bishops intent to “encourage Austrian Catholics to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The existence of the Austrian Hospice in the old city of Jerusalem is a sign of how closely Austrian Catholics have always been linked to the Holy Land. This link must continue to be expressed in our time”, urge the bishops, since “the Holy Land is also the ‘fifth Gospel’ for Christians”.
