The Bishops of the Holy Land Coordination were profoundly shocked and distressed at the killing by snipers on 16th December of two Christian women sheltering in the

compound of the Holy Family church, Gaza. Messages were sent immediately to the Patriarch, His Eminence Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and to the Parish Priest, Fr Gabriel Romanelli.

The Holy Land Coordination has been warmly welcomed by priests and parishioners on numerous occasions. We have witnessed firsthand the faith and commitment of the few parishioners who remain; and the dedicated care by the Missionaries of Charity of some fifty profoundly disabled people who live in the convent alongside the church.

The desecration of this compound and the destruction of the Sisters’ convent, “signalled,” according to the Patriarch, “as a place of worship since before the

beginning of the war,” is profoundly disturbing. The shooting in cold blood of Nahida Anton and Samar Antoun, a mother and daughter seeking to enter the convent is unfathomable.

The Holy Land Coordination bishops represent a broad sweep of countries, each bishop committed to a just peace for all and to holding the plight of Christians of the

Holy Land at the forefront of their governments’ concerns. We visit the Holy Land regularly to reassure these Christians that they are not forgotten. We seek also to understand better, and at first hand, the realities experienced by the people of three Abrahamic faiths sharing this Land; to fathom the possibility of hope in a two-state solution.

The atrocities perpetrated against Israeli Jews on 7th October and the subsequent killing by the Israeli Defence Force of nearly 20,000 Gazans, of whom 70% were

women and children, would appear profoundly to jeopardise the prospects of any such resolution of this deep-seated conflict.

Yet, the approaching celebration of Our Saviour’s birth two thousand years ago in the heart of the West Bank should serve as an incentive to people of faith, across the globe, to call down the Holy Spirit ever more fervently to move the hearts of all who can bring influence to bear on these

lands and to find a way to cease the hostilities from all sides.

 

(Photo: Cardinal Pizzaballa in Bethlehem)

 

Signed:

Bishop Nicholas Hudson (Chair of the Holy Land Coordination) Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster England & Wales)

Archbishop William Nolan Archbishop of Glasgow Scotland

Bishop Nicolo Anselmi Bishop of Rimini Italy

Archbishop Udo Bentz Archbishop-elect of Paderborn Germany

Bishop Pierre Burcher Bishop Emeritus of Reykjavik Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden

Bishop Christopher Chessun Anglican Bishop of Southwark Church of England

Bishop Michel Dubost Bishop Emeritus of Evry-Corbeil-Essonnes France

Archbishop Richard Gagnon Archbishop of Winnipeg Canada

Bishop William Kenney Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Birmingham England & Wales

Bishop Declan Lang Bishop of Clifton England & Wales

Bishop Donal McKeown Bishop of Derry Ireland

Archbishop Joan Enric Vives i Sicilia Bishop of Urgell and Co-Prince of Andorra Spain

Bishop Sithembele Sipuka Bishop of Mthatha South Africa

Bishop Paul Terrio Bishop Emeritus of St Paul Canada