Concern for Christians in the Cremisan Valley

(Vatican Radio) At his most recent General Audience, the three Palestinian mayors of Bethlehem, Beit Jala & Beit Sahour met with Pope Francis, before meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin. They were there to discuss the ongoing issue of the separation wall in the Cremisan Valley in the West Bank.

The wall which was built by Israel, now threatens the area of Cremisan, where there are lands that belong to 58 Christian families in Beit Jala. In addition,there are also two monasteries and a school run by the Salesians.

Listen to Lydia O'Kane's interview with the British Consul General in Jerusalem, Alastair McPhail 

There are fears that if the proposal goes ahead the Christians that are left will choose to leave, reducing the this population in the Holy Land even further.

In January a group of Bishops who participated in this year’s visit to Palestine and Israel organised by the Holy Land Coordination (HLC), which brings together Bishops and representatives of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe, South Africa and North America, visited the Cremisan Valley. In their concluding statement at the end of the visit they reiterated their commitment to oppose the construction of the wall in the area and the confiscation of land.

Vatican Radio’s Lydia O’Kane was with the Bishops on their visit. She spoke to the British Consul General in Jerusalem, Alastair McPhail at the Salesian Sisters Convent in the Cremisan Valley.

He said, the British government is “extremely concerned by the proposals for the route through the Cremisan Valley. We are worried about the conflict in general and we do not see this proposed routing as a helpful contribution to the resolution to the conflict.”

Mr McPhail also added, that it is “a priority for the international community to try and address this particular issue.”