GAZA
Ccee-Comece: american and european bishops in Holy LandThe traditional visit to the Holy Land by the bishops of the coordination of the American and European Bishops Conferences, in support of the Catholic Church and Christians in the Holy Land, will take place from January 10th to 15th. The schedule, which will be based in Bethlehem, includes meetings with the apostolic nuncio, mgr. Antonio Franco, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, and the religious leaders of the Christian denominations of the Holy Land. The agenda includes visits to Israel’s President Peres and Palestine’s President Abu Mazen. A release will be issued at the end. The delegation is composed of bishops from Canada, England, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the USA, plus some delegates of the Council of European Bishops Conferences (Ccee) and the Commission of the EU’s Bishops Conferences (Comece). Just before leaving, the bishop of Liverpool, mgr. Patrick Kelly, who is at the head of the delegation, renewed his appeal to “immediately stop any violence in Gaza. The conflict is deeply rooted, but we must strive to stop the conflict that is hindering any humanitarian aid. We need a wise and brave leadership that will be able to achieve peace and confine violence to the past. We must not be indifferent to this injustice, we must proclaim reconciliation. This is the purpose of our visit to the Holy Land”.Germany: aid to the population30,000 euros have been allocated to hospitals in Gaza by the German organisation for development Misereor with the aim of providing medicines, medical equipment and beds. “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic. Sometimes doctors have to operate without sterilised surgical instruments and gloves,” said Maria Haarmann, Misereor representative for the Middle East. According to the Israeli doctors association “Physician for Human Rights-Israel (Phr-Israel)”, a partner organisation of Misereor, more than 520 people died and nearly 2,700 got injured. A third of the victims are women and children. A number of patients affected by cancer or by chronic illness have been sent home to make room for the injured. The situation is made worse by water and power supply problems and heating. “For years Phr-Israel has been working to ensure the right to health of Palestinians in the occupied territories is respected,” declared Josef Sayer, spokesman of Misereor. “During war battles, health is a sign of hope which goes beyond the borders”. Besides the volunteer work, Phr-Israel is holding refresher courses for its Palestinian colleagues and is committed to trying to get from Israel sufficient permission to take the patients that cannot be treated on the spot out of the Gaza Strip. Switzerland: “Help Bethlehem Children”Bethlehem’s Caritas Baby Hospital is ready to take the children injured in the Gaza Strip. “Since, as Palestinians, we cannot get to Gaza, we want to provide any help we can, here, in Bethlehem. To do this, the hospital is ready to take to Bethlehem the children coming from Gaza who need treatment, through appropriate transport”, said Hiyam Awad Marzouqa, chief consultant at the children’s hospital that, with the Swiss Catholic organization “Help Bethlehem Children”, is setting up a “network of aids” specifically for the children of the Gaza Strip. “Traditional aids are not enough in Gaza. A flexible form of cooperation is needed”, stated today Anna Beck, director of the organisation. “This network of aids is supported by Europeans, Palestinians and Israelis, and the first measures have already been taken. They include the delivery of medical materials to the travelling hospitals of the “Palestinian Medical Relief Society” which works in Gaza. We are already thinking of rehabilitation schemes for traumatised children; aids to the population are also being provided by Israeli people”. “Fundamental respect for other people, the pursuit of justice in the mutual approach, and the protection of debts make us work towards the same end”, explained Barbara Schmid-Federer, deputy president of the organisation. Italy: the prayer of the Azione CattolicaAzione Cattolica Italiana, with all the Organisations for Catholic Action of the world, joins the Pope and the devotees of the Christian Churches of Jerusalem in prayer for the end of the conflict in the Gaza Strip. In taking up the Holy Father’s words, the National Presidency of Azione Cattolica Italiana invites all the diocesan and parish associations “to join in communal prayer for the Holy Land, even during the many events that the Organisation for Catholic Action traditionally dedicates to peace in January”. In particular, January 18th will see the start of the week of prayer for the unity of Christians, to coincide with the meeting of the National Board, when all levels of Azione Cattolica Italiana, along with the Organisation for Catholic Action of all the countries of the world, will join in a communal invocation for Peace in the Holy Land. Two are the Angelus prayers during which Benedict XVI made an appeal for the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip: “war and hatred are not the solution to any problems”, he warned on January 4th. Hence his appeal to the two sides, the Israeli and the Palestinian one, to “take immediate action to put an end to the current, tragic situation”. During the Angelus prayer, yesterday, which celebrated the Twelfth Night, the Holy Father encouraged “the initiatives and efforts of those who, having peace at heart, are trying to help Israelis and Palestinians to accept to sit round a table and talk”.
