In spite of the conflict

The participants at the 7th World Meeting of Families, due to take place in Milan from 30 May to 3 June, on the theme “Family: work and celebration”, will also include 8 Palestinian and one Jewish family, with their children. The families come from Nazareth, Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Nablus and form part of the delegation of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land (AOCTS) which will be led by Mgr. Maroun Lahham, Auxiliary Bishop and Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan, in his role as Chairman of the Episcopal Commission for the Family, Mgr. Elias Chacour, who is Secretary of the same Commission, and the parish priest of Bejt Jala, Father Ibrahim Shomali. The Milanese parishes of Erba and Cologno Monzese are kindly offering hospitality to the families. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal, will also be present at the Meeting in Milan.

Between faith and conflict. While awaiting its departure for Milan, “this small flock” is continuing to prepare itself as best it can both from a spiritual and organizational point of view, as explained to Sir Europe by Mgr. William Shomali, Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem, who is responsible for the spiritual preparation of these families. “There’s no shortage of difficulties – he explains –, especially in terms of travel arrangements and visas. But the families in question are highly motivated and determined to overcome all the difficulties by which they are faced by the situation in the Holy Land, not least those linked to mobility. The Palestinian families have in fact been refused permission to leave from Tel Aviv. So they must first travel to Amman in Jordan, from where they will fly to Italy. Only one family from Nazareth will be able to depart directly from Israel. To facilitate their participation, the Church of Jerusalem has provided them with material assistance, though this does not cover the entire cost of the journey. Fortunately free accommodation will be offered to them by Milanese parishes”. Then there’s the spiritual preparation for the meeting. Mgr. Shomali is clear: “We are praying a great deal, because we don’t want the journey to Milan to become just an occasion for tourism. On the contrary it is a privileged time for deepening our faith. In our preparatory meetings we have described the programme of the meeting and reflected on its theme. So we will go to offer our witness, but also to receive it from families from all over the world. We live our faith in the midst of a conflict, but in continuity with twenty centuries of Christian presence. We will go to Milan to remind the world that there are Christians who express their faith with joy in spite of all the difficulties. Our faith, alongside that of the others, will be enriched. To prepare for the meeting in Milan we have translated into Arabic the preparatory booklet “Family: work and celebration”; we have printed 10,000 copies of it and distributed it to all families in our parishes. So through this document even those families that won’t be going to Milan will be able to share in the experience of the event”. The hope is that the meeting in Milan will have positive repercussions on the life of the Church in the Holy Land. “We hope that those who go, will, once they have returned, become apostles of families, that they will be enthusiastic in communicating this experience and sharing it in the local churches to strengthen our faith and the bonds of unity. We will learn from the meeting in Milan in terms of work and celebration, themes that are deeply felt in our communities. In the Holy Land our faith has marked traits of social belonging, of shared identity, and that’s why it needs to be deepened on a more pastoral level; it needs to be strengthened through the reading of the Word of God, something that is lacking in our families”.

A conscious minority. “We depart for the Meeting of Families with the consciousness of being, as we have been for 15 centuries, a minority church, with everything that this involves at the level of fear for the future, and of not always peaceful coexistence with other faiths”, says Bishop Maroun Lahham, head of the delegation, in a briefing to Sir Europe, in which he describes the spirit with which these families are preparing for the Milanese event. “We want to receive the assurance of a Church that supports us and that spiritually and morally comforts us. Our families bring with them the problems linked to the conflict, such as the lack of work, of housing, of stability and of security. The search for a job, the search for housing, are daily sufferings. That’s why so many, especially those of the younger generation and the best educated, emigrate in search of a better life. Yet despite all the difficulties God has given us the grace of having deeply united families in our midst”.

Bethlehem-Sesto San Giovanni. The 9 families of the AOCTS delegation will not be the only ones to come to Milan from the Holy Land. A further six families will make the same journey; their participation in the meeting has been made possible thanks to the twinning – since last year – between the parish of Sesto san Giovanni, led by Father Angelo Cairati, and the Christian community in Bethlehem, following a parish pilgrimage to the Holy Land. “It was a deeply felt pilgrimage – explains the parish priest – which inspired in us the desire to do something for the local Christians. Thanks to the treasurer of the Custodia Terrae Sanctae, Father Ibrahim Faltas, who identified them, we will host 6 families from Bethlehem in our parish for the World Meeting of Families and also help contribute to their travelling expenses”.

(02 May 2012)