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Israeli police prevent Bishops from visiting the Cremisan Valley
The Holy Land Coordination was travelling to the area for the third year running when they were confronted by security forces and instructed to leave.
Plight of Iraqi Christians: Bishops highlight harsh situation of refugees from Isis persecuted for their faith
The international group of mainly Catholic bishops will use their journey around the region’s beleaguered Christian communities to draw world attention to the harsh conditions faced by Iraqi Christians who were driven from their homes by the Isis advance in the summer of 2014.
Parish Priest in Gaza City: Gaza is a prison but your prayers give us power
Fr Mario has been priest of the Holy Family parish in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood for three years. He welcomed the bishops of the Holy Land Coordination to his Church for Mass on Friday 8 January and afterwards gave a short reflection on the visit:
Bishops visit vulnerable Christians of the Middle East
Gaza On Thursday 7 January, the Bishops will visit the small Christian community in Gaza, celebrating mass at the parish of the Holy Family; they will then meet with parishioners, visit the school of the Holy Rosary Sisters and various other projects helping people to rebuild their lives following the most recent conflict in 2014.
Statement from Bishop Declan Lang on recent violence in the Holy Land
As I pray for the dead and injured from both the Palestinian and Israeli sides, I also call upon both communities and their leaderships to exercise restraint and refrain from going down the slippery road of tit-for-tat killings and mutual recrimination.
Message from the Plenary Assembly of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences, Holy Land 2015
They also express their thanks to the religious, in this year devoted to the Consecrated Life, and to all the Christians whom they have met and who live in this Land, for their testimony of faith and safekeeping of the Holy Places as places of Christian remembrance and living worship.
Holy Land Christians: Call for Solidarity
The Cardinal and Archbishop were returning from the Plenary Assembly of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) which had been meeting in Galilee and Jerusalem at the invitation of His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Bishop Lang urges Israeli authorities to stop construction of Separation Wall in Cremisan Valley
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has condemned the move and has called on the Israeli authorities to down tools and await the decision of the Supreme Court on a petition submitted by the families of the Valley a few days ago.
Bells of Clifton Cathedral to ring in support of persecuted Christians in the Middle East
The Archbishop of Avignon, the Most Reverend Dominique Rey, has asked for bells of solidarity to be rung on this special Feast Day dedicated to Our Lady as a “gesture of prayer, solidarity, peace and faith”. As the lead Bishop for International Affairs at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Bishop Declan Lang…
Bishop Declan Lang: Delight at the Cremisan Valley Final Judgement
The proposed wall through the Cremisan valley threatened to separate the nineteenth century Salesian monasteries and a convent school. The Court has instructed the Israeli government to plan a new route, although it has set no time frame for the new plans. I am against all walls that separate communities from each other, let…
Bishops call for human dignity as basis for peace in Holy Land
“Human dignity is given by God and is absolute. The ongoing conflict assaults the dignity of both Palestinians and Israelis, but in a particular way our commitment to the poor calls us to lift up the suffering people in Gaza.
French Bishop talks about his 24 hours in Gaza
Bishop Dubost was part of a delegation of bishops who visited the tiny Palestinian territory as part of the annual Holy Land Co-ordination organised by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
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