A huge number of pilgrims, over 1.5 million, not least because of the decrease in violence: according to the Custodian of the Holy Land, father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 2008 is a year to be remembered, even if politically it has been fairly "fragile". In an interview with SIR (online from tomorrow at agensir.it), the Custodian states that "2008 has been marked by several positive points: one of these is a decrease in violence, even if the situation in Gaza is still serious, and one is the return of the pilgrims in unprecedented numbers, a trend that will rise even more in 2009". Politically, instead, "it has been a fairly fragile year: no great progress has been made, the Annapolis Conference failed, now there’s the Israeli crisis. However, I think 2009 should give something more, not least because of the end of Bush’s mandate and the beginning of Obama’s". One of the reasons for the pilgrims coming back to the Holy Land is, according to the Custodian, "the period of calm from violence, the media are speaking less and less of the Holy Land as of a land of conflict, the Israelis being more willing to help with the entry visas, even if not to the Arab countries. Not to mention the campaigns for the promotion of pilgrimages that the Bishops Conferences and the Pope’s appeals have been carrying out for some time". Finally, the Custodian confirms that Palestine’s President Abu Mazen will attend Midnight Mass in Bethlehem at Christmas.” “
