Christians in Holy Land need support and encouragement

RITE & REASON: TODAY, AND as we enjoy the ongoing Christmas celebrations, the Holy Land continues to experience horrific…

RITE & REASON:TODAY, AND as we enjoy the ongoing Christmas celebrations, the Holy Land continues to experience horrific conflict and deep divisions, as we have seen these past days in pictures from Gaza.

But, many would contend, that conflict has found its most consistent and powerful visual expression in the eight-metre high concrete wall that surrounds the city of Bethlehem. This separation wall effectively isolates the city of Bethlehem by restricting movement to and from the surrounding areas.

The consequences for the local communities have been devastating - the ability to travel to one's workplace, to school or hospital, to visit family and friends, is severely limited. Faced with such constraints many families have chosen to leave. This trend is particularly marked among the Christian community, once the majority religion of Bethlehem and now reduced to a minority.

In 1998, the Holy See established the Co-ordination of Episcopal Conferences in Jerusalem as an initiative intended to support the church in the Holy Land. It represents Catholic bishops' conferences of Europe, Canada and North America, known as the Holy Land Co-ordination Group (HLC). Our first task during our visit in January last, was to offer our prayerful presence and encouragement to a suffering church. We recognised that the social, political and humanitarian situation in Israel and Palestine is complex and solutions to the conflict are not easily found.

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I had the wonderful experience of travelling with Cardinal Seán Brady, a member of the HLC delegation, to the town of Zebabdah in the West Bank and of celebrating Mass with the Catholic community. These Christians were a part of the "living stones" of the Holy Land. While there we listened to their stories of struggle and their hopes for the future of their land.

One had to admire their faith and courage. There were also other signs of great hope. We met young people at Bethlehem University and visited the Holy Family Maternity Hospital - which gets financial help from the Irish Association of the Order of Malta.

What impressed me was the determination of the students to stay in the land of their birth despite the conflict and their difficult situation. What they wanted was a just and lasting peace that will bring them and all people in the Holy Land, a better future.

Recognising the significance of the Holy Land for the wider Christian community, the leaders of the four main Irish churches made a visit to the region in April.

The delegation comprised Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh; Archbishop Alan Harper, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh; Dr John Finlay, moderator of the Presbyterian Church and the Rev Roy Cooper, president of the Methodist Church, representing different Christian traditions of Ireland. In particular they wished through their visit to bring their own experience of the peace process in Ireland and give encouragement to the local population.

They met political leaders, United Nations representatives and local people. The delegates were saddened by the depth of the divisions and insecurity amongst the residents of the Holy Land. A highlight of their visit was the service Keeping Watch: A Service of Hope for Peace from the Shepherd's Field, near Bethlehem, on April 29th.

The Shepherd's Field is the site where the angel of the lord visited the shepherds, told them not to be afraid and delivered news of a great joy, a joy to be shared and informed them of the birth of Jesus in the nearby town of David (Gospel of St Luke chapter 2: verses 8-20).

It was here, that the Irish church leaders offered hope to their Christian brothers and sisters and people of all faiths in today's Holy Land and prayed that a treaty of peace might come to "bring to an end to the occupation imposed by one people on another, granting freedom to Palestinians, giving security to Israelis, and freeing all from fear".

On the Sunday, June 8th, 2008, the churches in Israel and Palestine invited Christians around the world to pray with them.This Christmas, let us all pray for a just and lasting peace in the land where Jesus Christ, the prince of peace, was born in a stable in the town of Bethlehem.

Bishop Raymond Field is chairman of the Irish Commission for Justice and Social Affairs, a commission of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference