Vatican urges generous contributions to Holy Land collection

(March 9, 2010) As Catholics commemorate the death of Jesus on Good Friday, they also are asked to remember the Christians who still live in the land where Jesus lived and rose from the dead. In a letter to the world's bishops, urging them to support the annual collection for the Holy Land, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri said all Catholics share the responsibility of the Christians in the Holy Land to keep the church alive there and preserve the sites associated with Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Cardinal Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, coordinates the Holy Land collection around the world, which most parishes take up on Good Friday. His office also coordinates the committee that distributes the funds. Along with Cardinal Sandri's appeal, the Vatican published a report March 8 on the projects funded in 2008-2009 in Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. Many of the projects combine archeological studies and restoration of Christian shrines with the improvement of pilgrim facilities and convents at the same site. Cardinal Sandri explained that since Christians of the Holy Land have the responsibility to preserve the 'Christian origins,' they deserve the support of the entire Church.