FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN THE HOLY LAND

Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches, has spoken about the Good Friday collection in aid of Christians in the Holy Land in his annual message to all bishops, priests and Christian faithful. It is a tradition that on Good Friday a collection is held in all churches to help the Catholic Church’s mission in the Holy Land.

Cardinal Sandri mentioned Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Holy Land in May 2009 and the Pope’s insistent message that Christian presence in the Holy Land should be fostered by all means. He went on to explain that the main aim of the annual collection “Pro Terra Sancta” has always been that of coming to the aid of the Catholic Church and its institutions in the Holy Land. This message has been continually repeated by subsequent Popes, especially since the papal letter “Nobis in animo” of Pope Paul VI.

The letter of the Prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches, which is responsible for the Holy Land missions, should also be read against the historical background of the Church’s presence in the Holy Land.

Until 1848, the year in which Pope Pius IX re-established the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Catholic Church in the Holy Land was institutionally represented by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. Ever since that time the Franciscans of the Holy Land Custody have remained the official custodians or guardians of the Holy Places in the name of the Catholic Church, whereas the Latin Patriarchate has concentrated its efforts on the pastoral concerns of local Catholics in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Cyprus, although the largest parishes in the Holy Land (Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem) remain under the care of the Franciscan Custody, which is also responsible for a good number of charitable and cultural institutions.

In many dioceses it has been a long tradition to organize the Good Friday collection with the direct collaboration of the local Holy Land Commissariat. Such is the case in Malta, where the bishops collaborate directly with the Commissariat in a spirit of mutual trust, since they know by experience that the aim of the Holy Land Commissariat is to support the mission of the Holy Land Franciscan Custody, which is the largest ecclesiastical institution in the Holy Land.

A few statistics will suffice to prove this. The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, present in Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus and Rhodes, has 288 Franciscan missionaries working in 50 Sanctuaries, 25 Parishes, 14 Schools and Colleges catering for the poorest among local Christians (Catholics and Orthodox) and also a percentage of Muslim and Jewish students, 4 Homes for the Elderly, 5 Hospices for Pilgrims (Case Nove).

The Custody is responsible for 3 academic institutions (the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, the Faculty of Biblical Sciences and Archaeology of the Pontificia Università Antonianum of Rome;  the Franciscan Theological Seminary in Jerusalem; the Centre for Oriental Christian Studies in Cairo). It has also instituted a new Franciscan Multi-Media Centre in Terra Sancta College in Jerusalem, and is in the forefront in filming and transmitting Christian news from the Holy Land, also through its official website, and through other ancillary websites and biblical magazines published in various languages. It is also responsible for 2 editing houses (Edizioni Terra Santa and Franciscan Printing Press).

A total of 1320 local Christians find jobs in the Holy Land Custody. They are also offered nearly free housing in a total of 501 apartments that the Custody has built for needy and young families. The Custody also gives a total of 350 scholarships and supports through grants 157 students.

The principal aim of the Good Friday collection is therefore that of helping the Catholic Church in the Holy Land in its various components, among which the Franciscan Custody is the oldest and the most important.