European pilgrims

They ascend in silence the Mount of the Transfiguration. Some recite the Rosary. Others stop to listen to the explanations of the local guide. The younger ones with the pilgrim’s staff, sign of pilgrimage, have a guitar with which they accompany the hymns sung in English, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Dutch, Polish, German, French…The same scene is repeated at the Holy Sepulchre, at the site of the Last Supper, on the mount of the Beatitudes and on Calvary. They are the pilgrims from all over the world, and especially from Europe, who are returning to the Holy Land. Urged by the wish to rediscover the roots of their own faith, and to seek renewed motivation for their presence in a secularised and relativistic Europe, they all pray for the same intention: peace in the Holy Land and in the hearts of men. DIFFICULTIES OF WITNESS. “I’m here to rediscover the roots of my faith – says Anna P., from Roermond (HOLLAND) -. My greatest difficulty is in fact that of giving witness to my faith in everyday life. At times I almost conceal myself. I think of the Christians living here, in the Holy Land, a small minority, who try to bear witness to the Word. It’s difficult for them, it’s difficult for us”. Benoit and his wife Marie Francoise H . come from Dijon ( FRANCE ) and belong to the Community of the Beatitudes. They ascended on foot the four-kilometre route that leads to Tabor. “We are pilgrims here in the Land of Jesus – they say – in order to return as pilgrims to our Europe”. It’s a continent where today “it’s difficult to bear witness to Christian values due to incomprehension and materialism: the results of a secularism that is particularly strong in France and that at times leads to hostility to those who believe”. Bringing the spirit of the Holy Land into Europe is a hope for many faithful, as Rüdiger Bernstein also explains. He comes from Essen ( GERMANY ), and is visiting the Holy Places with a small group of 13 persons from various towns in central Germany. “A visit to the biblical sites and the meeting with persons of different provenance enriches us both culturally and spiritually. And this gift we must in turn transmit to the communities to which we belong”. LAND OF CONTRADICTION. The position of pilgrims from the countries of Easter Europe, heirs of the difficult years of Communism, is different. They come to the Holy Land in large numbers, both in thanksgiving and in praise. Such as the 200 pilgrims from Gdynia, a small town in northern POLAND very close to the better-known Gdansk. “We’re here to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the foundation of our town”, explains Ivona Pilecka , who expresses her joy that it is now possible “freely to bear witness to the faith” in her country. “In Poland the majority of citizens are Catholics, thanks to an immemorial family tradition that was preserved, albeit amid a thousand difficulties, during the years of the Communist dictatorship”. Curiosity for this “land of contradiction” on the other hand is the feeling uppermost in the mind of the young Maurizio Manti , on a parish pilgrimage from Bergamo ( ITALY ). With the WYD rucksack on his back, and about to renew his baptismal vows on the shores of Lake Tiberias, Maurizio says he is undertaking this “journey of faith” as an occasion to “recharge his spirit”. But he cannot overlook the realities of this land where “it is impossible not to perceive the differences between tradition and renewal: a strident contrast between ancient and modern that is expressed especially at the level of habits and lifestyles. The young adopt Western dress and Western codes of conduct, whereas the elderly remain attached to tradition”. PEACE AND CONCRETE AID. “The Benedictine monks, a very ancient presence in these places, are a very small minority in this land where Christians themselves are in a minority. We are few in number, we have no weapons other than prayer, so we don’t arouse fear. People from all over the world come here, including Palestinians and Israelis, who are able here to speak at their ease and unburden their hearts”, says the Abbot Benedikt M. Lindemann , who has come here from GERMANY to take charge of the abbey of the Dormitio Mariae in Jerusalem. To give a concrete form to the message of peace that the monastery transmits, the abbot reveals the project for an “academy of peace”, for which he is trying to raise funds. Sister Salvatorina , a Franciscan nun, comes from MALTA , and has been in the Holy Land for 37 years. Together with three other Sisters from Italy, Jordan and Israel, she devotes herself to looking after the sanctuary placed on the Mount of the Beatitudes. “Everyone here wants peace”, she says. “The pilgrims returned last year, and this opened our heart”, adds Sister Giampiera , her Italian consoeur, who appeals to the faithful in Europe: “Return to the Holy Land to breath and absorb the spirit of Christ and of the Gospel and restore it to the Old Continent”.