Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem grateful for Prayer Day for Peace in Holy Land

(Vatican Radio) 24 hours of prayer for peace in the Holy Land: that’s what Catholics the world over are being called to do this Sunday January 27^th. The world-wide event, now in its fifth year, hopes to guarantee a continuum of prayer in more than three thousand cities.

This year’s event coincides with “International Holocaust Remembrance Day” marked on the 27^th of January each year to recall the day in 1945 on which Soviet forces liberated the Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Since it was instituted in 2008, the Day of Prayer has been celebrated by the Catholic Church on the last Sunday of the month of January.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, the leader of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, says Christians of all denominations in Jerusalem are united in prayer, solidarity and communion during this week of Christian Unity and are grateful for the concern of fellow Christians around the world.

Calling Jerusalem the “Mother Church” with a “world dimension,” Patriarch Fouad Twal says “the unique way to be grateful is to do our best to fulfil this mission (well because) the Church in the Holy Land (can constitute) a bridge between all the others.” The Patriarch urges Catholics to extend their prayers for peace in the Holy Land beyond Sunday’s celebrations: “please go on praying for us because we need you and we still believe in the power of prayer. As the Lord said, ‘I will give you my peace.’ We hope to have this peace in this not easy mission.”

Listen to Tracey McClure's report: