Joy is greater

Flags, hats, scarves: any object, any symbol is good to declare one’s nationality and place of origin. It’s not nationalist pride. Rather, it is the yearning to come together in a long-desired “Place”: the Holy Land. Animated by this yearning, colors and languages are blended together and the presence of the faithful becomes a choral presence from Nazareth to Bethlehem, from the Tabor to Jericho up to Jerusalem. However, an attentive observer will notice that most of these pilgrims come from the Old Continent. Is this due only to geographic proximity or does the Holy Land exert fascination over secularized and relativistic Europe? We talked about it with father Artemio Vitores, from Spain, vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land, and with father Frederic Manns, of “widespread European origin”, as he likes to define himself.The novelty. “The real novelty is the invasion of pilgrims from all over the world and from Europe in particular”, explained father Artemio Vitores , whom we met in the offices of the Custody in Jerusalem after one of his many meetings with pilgrims, these ones in particular arriving from Spain. “According to recent data issued by Spain’s Minister of Tourism, Spanish pilgrims increased by 119%. This major presence does in effect create more than a problem to hotel reception and to Mass attendance in the sanctuaries. However, joy overcomes all problems. Perhaps something needs to be changed in the internal organization of the Custody to handle the flow of pilgrims. We will try to meet all demands”. It’s hard to make an assessment of the different nationalities: “most pilgrims come from Italy and Spain, followed by Germans. Many are also those from Malta, Croatia and from ex-Communist Countries, which are now part of Europe: Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Romania. We have been pleased with the revival of French pilgrims. We expect a real and true invasion of Russians for the year 2009. The Russians are building a 4000-room hotel near Bethlehem. While a few days ago, for the first time the Via Crucis was celebrated in Croatian for 200 faithful”. Identity rediscovery. Apart from the figures, the Custody vicar admits: “Europeans are currently undergoing a critical moment. In the Old Continent there is much talk of ethical relativism, laity and laicism, the latter tending to confine faith to individuals’ private sphere, to the sacristy. Christians are suffering this situation and the pilgrimage to the Holy Land may correspond to their thirst for spirituality”. This is what emerged from the vicar’s encounters with the pilgrims: “I have met 6500 faithful since September 2007. We usually update them on the situation of Christians in the Holy Land, on the places of Jesus and the peace process. I always ask: now that you went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, what will you say to those who stayed at home? It’s certainly difficult to be Christians. We’re told we believe in things of the past, they tease us, but pilgrims return from the Holy Land with the courage of proclamation. There are people who return to confession after decades and recover the dignity and the awareness of their own faith. It’s the courage of faith which springs from the rediscovery of the Scriptures reinterpreted to the light of the holy places of Jesus. The experience of the Holy Land is a unique experience. It’s not only to be seen. It needs to be touched. Here the pilgrims do things which they would never do in their homelands since they’re afraid of being criticized or worse still, because they’re ashamed. In the Holy Land European pilgrims rediscover their Christian identity. They return to their homes with a greater awareness of their faith and their spiritual development. Here they rediscover their roots. The Christian roots of Europe are in the Holy Land”. A forgotten message. “It’s true. Europe tends to forget its religious roots and if we’re only concerned with constructing economic Europe to the detriment of mankind, then the religious dimension falls into oblivion”, claimed Father Frederic Manns, Professor of Holy Scriptures at the Biblicum Institute of Jerusalem. Israel reminds us of this: man has a religious vocation, until he finds it he is missing something. The relationship with God is part and parcel of human nature. The spiritual dimension cannot be neglected”. For Father Manns interreligious dialogue can provide the answer to the identity loss affecting the Western world: “Europe won’t recover its identity unless it preserves its contact with the Land which is home to the spiritual message: man is called to be exalted, God became man so that man may become God. Unfortunately the Western world has forgotten this message”.