Bishop Declan Lang in the Holy Land:"they do feel a forgotten people"...
(Vatican Radio) Bishop Declan Lang of the Clifton Diocese in England took part this
year in the 13th Holy Land Co-ordination pilgrimage in support of the Christian Churches
in the region which takes place each January .
On the final day of the pilgrimage
Veronica Scarisbrick asked him to share with her his impressions: "I wondered whether
it was that important that we were here and for the first few days I wasn't sure.
I thought to myself what difference is this group making to the people of Palestine
Israel? But then as I listened to people more they actually said they were very grateful
for our presence here because it was an important sign to them. An important sign
that they weren't forgotten because sometimes they do feel a very forgotten people".
Veronica Scarisbrick also asked Bishop Declan Lang what his strongest memories
of this visit might be: " ...Two memories which are very strong for me. One was in
Hebron when it was pointed out that this family had to climb in from their back window
in order to get in to their house because they were not allowed to go through their
front door...And the second one was the weather, especially in Jordan the high winds
and the rain and what effect this was having just on the environment for the refugee
camps. These people were living with a lack of water, a lack of resources and presumably
just in mud "...
In this interview Bishop Declan Lang also comments on the
13th Holy Land Co-ordination's final statement as well as focus his attention on
the importance of prayer and pilgrimages ...