Bishops of the Holy Land Coordination will be making their annual \nvisit in support of Christians in Israel and Palestine next week. This \nyear, they will be focusing on the theme: \u201cChristians in Israel; \nchallenges and opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe Holy Land Coordination is made up of Bishops from across Europe, \nNorth America and South Africa, who have made an annual pastoral visit \nto Israel and Palestine for the past 20 years.
\n
The Coordination\u2019s annual meeting is taking place from 12-17 \nJanuary. The meeting will be held in the City of Haifa, including visits\n to Christian hospitals, schools and villages. The bishops will also \ntake part in Inter-faith encounters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bishop Declan Lang, chair of \nthe Holy Land Coordination said: \u201cWe have come to stand in solidarity \nwith Christian communities in the Holy Land, who are an important part \nof our family and make a rich contribution to society, both in Israel \nand Palestine, as we will see in visits to Christian schools, hospitals \nand in dialogue with local politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the Sunday the \nCoordination will travel to the Palestinian town of Zababdeh to \ncelebrate Mass with the local community. Zababdeh, where three quarters \nof the population is Christian, is located in the poor, under-developed \nand often overlooked Northern Region of the West Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the \nHoly Land Coordination is not a fund-raising or project-based body, \nconsiderable development investment and growth in pilgrimages have \ndeveloped directly as a result of the bishops\u2019 visits. Prayer is the \nframework of the annual meeting, with daily celebration of the \nEucharist, often in different rites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bishops visit Catholic \ncommunities and share in their Sunday liturgy, meeting with them. In \ndifficult times, the visiting bishops have often heard pleas for more \npilgrims to come from their home countries, and there has been a \nconcerted and successful effort on the part of bishops\u2019 conferences to \nencourage pilgrimages, assisting many whose livelihoods depend on \npilgrims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bishops also speak at a high-level to their own \ngovernments, parliamentarians, Israeli and Palestinian ambassadors and \nthe media about a wide range of issues affecting the lives of \nChristians. In line with the approach the Holy See adopts everywhere \nelse, the bishops do not seek privileges for Christians, but dignity and\n justice for them and for others in similar conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bishops\n are present every year, and through their presence they hope, above all\n else, to remind the \u201cliving stones\u201d of the Christian communities in the\n Holy Land that they are not forgotten by their brothers and sisters in \nother parts of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bishops of the Holy Land Coordination<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nRt Rev Declan Lang, Bishop of Clifton, England & Wales The Theme of the Holy Land Coordination this year is: \u201cChristians in Israel; challenges and opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[61,74,110,215],"bishop":[],"department":[],"class_list":["post-1584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land","tag-christian","tag-coordination","tag-holy-land","tag-support"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nRt Rev William Kenney, Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, England & Wales
\nRt Rev Stephen Ackermann, Bishop of Trier, Germany
\nMost Rev Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa
\nMost Rev Timothy Broglio, Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA
\nRt Rev Peter Burcher, Bishop Emeritus of Reykjavik, Iceland
\nBishop Rodolfo Cetoloni, Bishop of Grosseto, Italy
\nRt Rev Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Southwark, The Church of England
\nRt Rev Kevin Dowling, Co-President Pax Christi International, South Africa
\nRt Rev Michel Dubost, Bishop Emeritus of Evry-Corbeil-Essonnes, France
\nRt Rev Lionel Gendron, Bishop of St. Jean Longueuil, Quebec, Canada
\nRt Rev Felix Gmur, Bishop of Basel, Switzerland
\nRt Rev Alan McGuckian, Bishop of Raphoe, Ireland
\nRt Rev William Nolan, Bishop of Galloway, Scotland
\nRt Rev Jose Ornelas Carvalho, Bishop of Setubal, Portugal
\nRt Rev Noel Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor, Ireland
Most Rev Joan Enric Vives Sicilia, Archbishop of Urgell, Spain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"