Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nazareth (Fides Service) - Celebrations on March 8 for the 125 years of presence of the St John of God Hospitaller Brothers in Nazareth coincided with the founder’s feast day. A special mass for the occasion was presided by Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah, the auxiliary Bishop and many priests and religious from Nazareth and Galilee.
In these 125 years of service Holy Family Hospital run by the Brothers has gradually become the a centre of radiation of Christian charity and the charisma of St John of God it is today offering medical care to local people and occasionally to pilgrims.
Contact between the Father General of the Order Giovanni Maria Alfieri and the then Latin Patriarch Mgr Vincenzo Bracco was made in 1881 through the Prior of the Home for Old People run by the Brothers situated near Bethlehem. On 16 March 1882 the first Brothers arrived in the village of Nazareth to bear witness to the Lord caring for the local sick and the suffering.
Holy Family Hospital in Nazareth with 119 beds and an annual average of 50,00 patients admitted continues to improve health conditions in Galilee with modern techniques, surgery and emergency ward open 24 hours a day. The Hospital is a non-profit body and member of the ARAN network of emergency hospitals in Israel.
(AP) (14/3/2007 Agenzia Fides; Righe:25; Parole:281)
