FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN THE HOLY LAND

On Saturday 10 July the Franciscan friars, gathered for the Custodial Chapter in Saint Saviour Monastery in Jerusalem, elected the new administration of the Custody for the coming three years. In the morning a solemn Mass was celebrated by fr. Artemio Vítores, outgoing Custodial Vicar, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the martyrdom of Blessed Emanuel Ruiz and Companions, who suffered a brutal death in the hands of Shiite Druse fanatics during the night of 9-10 July 1860 in the Franciscan friary of Bab-Touma in Damascus. This friary belongs to the Holy Land Custody, that also includes the region of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

The morning session was dedicated to the elections. The Custos of the Holy Land, fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who has been confirmed for another three-year mandate, received the new members of his team during the elections. Fr. Artemio Vítores was re-elected as Custodial Vicar. A team of six counsellors, or discreti, as they are known in the Holy Land Custody, was also elected. They are: fr. Peter Vasko, elected from the English-speaking group, fr. Noel Muscat, elected from the Italian-Maltese group, fr. Stéphane Milovitch, elected from the Franco-German group, fr. Amjad Sabbara, elected from the Arabic-speaking group, fr. Seweryn Lubecki, elected from the Slavic group, and fr. Martin Rafael Zavaleta, elected from the Spanish-Portuguese-Latin American group. The discreti are elected from respective language groups in order to express the international character of the Franciscan Custody, but this does not mean that they represent any particular group of friars. In fact, they are discreti of the Holy Land Custody in order to form the council of the Custos.

The Chapter has also been dedicated to important issues in the life of the Franciscan Custody, including the care of the Holy Places and of the pilgrims who visit them, the pastoral ministry to the local Catholic (Latin) community in the parishes of the Custody, the educational ministry in the Terra Sancta Colleges and schools run by the Custody, initial and ongoing formation of the friars of the Custody, academic institutions in the Custody (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, the Franciscan International Seminary of Saint Saviour, the Centre for Oriental Christian Studies in Cairo). A review of the financial situation of the Custody in view of its various projects of social assistance, care of the sanctuaries, academic and archaeological activities was also undertaken by the members of the Chapter, upon the indications of the Custodial Economo, fr. Dobromir Jasztal. The Commissaries of the Holy Land, who are the back-bone of financial and all other kinds of assistance to the Custody, were represented by fr. Paschalis Kwoczala, Commissary of Poland in Krakow.

The coming days of the Chapter will be dedicated to the approval of the Statutes of the Region of St. Paul, which includes a dependent region of the Holy Land Custody in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, instituted this year by decree of the Minister General, with the aim of providing a semi-autonomous character to the friars living in these countries, in order to respond to the current situation of the Christian presence in the Middle East. The Statutes will apply ad experimentum until 2013, when the General government of the Franciscan Order will formally institute this semi-autonomous Region of St. Paul, governed by the Delegate of the Father Custos.

The Chapter sessions of Tuesday 13 July will be dedicated to meetings with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Mgr. Fouad Twal, and with the Apostolic Nuncio in Israel and Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem and Palestine, Mgr. Antonio Franco. On Wednesday 14 July the Minister General himself, fr. José Rodríguez Carballo, will be present to address the Chapter and conclude its proceedings. The Chapter will be formally concluded with the celebration of Solemn Mass in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre on Thursday 15 July, by the Minister General, the President of the Chapter, fr. Francesco Bravi, and the Father Custos, on the occasion of the feast of the Consecration of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre during the time of the Crusades, on 15 July 1149.