Lest we forget

‪‪Bishops from all over Europe and North America are presently in the Holy Land (until January 10) for the 13th meeting organized by the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land and the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of the Holy Land. ‪The delegation – organized by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales – met in Bethlehem, made ​​stops in Jordan and will conclude the trip with a visit to Jerusalem. Delegates were updated on the current situation in the Holy Land by His Beatitude Patriarch Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the Apostolic Nuncio, Mgr.Giuseppe Lazzarotto. Representatives of various Christian Organizations equally attended the meetings. Times of prayer and Eucharistic celebrations also provided the opportunity to meet the members of local communities and the Catholics of different rites as well as the students of Bethlehem University, representatives of civil society and local authorities. On the significance of this meeting, Maria Chiara Biagioni for SIR Europe interviewed Fr Duarte da Cunha, General Secretary of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences. A visit to the Holy Land. Why? "It’s a European initiative that embraces other world countries such as Canada and the United States. And although it’s promoted by the English Bishops’ Conference it involves bishops from all over Europe with two main goals. First, to bear witness to Christians and to bishops of different rites and Christian confessions on the closeness of world Christians, notably that of European Christians, acknowledging the difficulties and suffering they experience caused by the lack of peace. We want them to know that they aren’t alone. The other purpose is to share the interest of Europe and of the universal Church in order to find a peaceful solution, in particular for the Holy Land and in general for the whole Middle East. It can be said that with this pilgrimage we wish to rekindle the awareness of European Christians vis a vis the Church in the Holy Land".This year’s meeting takes place in the Year of Faith. What is the significance given by this recurrence to the bishops’ pilgrimage to the Holy Land? "The theme of this year’s meeting is "Suffering and Vulnerable People in the Holy Land". I think that on the one hand the Year of Faith makes us want to visit the Holy Land, notably the sites that marked the birth of our faith. Those are the places where the Lord became flesh by incarnation, died, and resurrected. But those religious sites today are preserved by people who are often in a state of suffering and are vulnerable. Today also other Christians travel to Jerusalem, Israel, some of them are migrants for economic reasons, in search of a job, but others unfortunately are refugees from various war zones, from Syria to Iraq. It is not the task of the Coordination to do lobbying or solicit political measures. Instead, we want to say that we follow the situation closely, that the Christians of Europe want a peaceful solution with the hope that all existing conflicts may be resolved soon".All wars mostly affect civilians. Most vulnerable people are men, women, children and the elderly."These are people that the Church knows very well because they are the people who live in our parishes. That’s why these meetings are primarily intended as meetings with the members of the community of the local Church, that is, to visit the living stones of the Church. Christians, living stones, are part of the local population and experience suffering and vulnerability. The Church accompanies Christians and non-Christians alike because she is inspired by charity. Everyone has the right to be loved"."Often in the Western world one risks getting accustomed to the news of the conflicts in the Middle East. Is the visit of the Bishops to the Holy Land also intended as a wake-up call from indifference?"Indeed, while on the one side our media provide news on the sufferings of the people almost in real time, on the other hand there is a serious risk of getting used to these situations, giving rise to a form of indifference to the suffering of another person. The Pope’s voice that never fails to draw attention to the conflicts in the world and the suffering of humanity. It is a voice that breaks many silences and touches the hearts of Christians to prevent them from diverting their attention and forgetting those who are suffering. This meeting in the Holy Land that is held once a year not only seeks to show the closeness of Christians to their brothers in faith living in Holy Land. It also wishes to ensure that Christians who don’t live in the Holy Land will not forget the sufferings of local faithful".