ASIA/HOLY LAND - The Co-ordination of Bishops’ Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land: A group of European and North American bishops is visiting the Holy Land from 12th to 18th January

Bethlehem (Agenzia Fides) - A group of European and North American bishops is visiting the Holy Land from 12th to 18th January this year. This is an established group, which was set up at the request of the Holy See in Jerusalem in October 1998. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops initially co-ordinated a group of bishops who began to visit Catholic communities in the Holy Land each year. The group is officially known as the Co-ordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church in the Holy Land, and has been organised for the last three years by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, under the leadership of Archbishop Patrick Kelly of Liverpool. Local arrangements are made jointly with the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, on behalf of the Association of Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land. This year, there will be bishops from Canada, England and Wales, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United States of America, as well as the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) and the Commission of the Episcopates of the European Union (ComECE). Given that Nigerians are the most numerous pilgrims to the Holy Land, a Nigerian bishop was invited for the first time this year, but it has proved impossible for him to come. Caritas Internationalis, Catholic Relief Services, Pax Christi International, the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, the Pontifical Mission Society, Vatican Radio and the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation will also be represented. The 2007 programme includes a visit to Bethlehem; there participants will join a children’s celebration and visit various institutions, for example Bethlehem University and the Caritas Baby Hospital. Some participants will also visit Gaza en route to Nazareth, where the whole group will gather for input from various speakers and meetings with Catholic groups. A very important part of the time in Nazareth will be joining Catholic parish communities for mass on Sunday. The final stage of the meeting will be in Jerusalem; a smaller group of bishops hope to visit the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ehud Olmert, and the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. The whole group will gather to assess the visit and plan future activities. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 11/1/2007, righe 21, parole 276)
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