Each year a delegation of bishops from Europe and North America spend a week on
pilgrimage in the Holy Land in an effort to express solidarity and bring support to
Christian communities across Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.
A
visit organised by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales with a mandate
from the Holy See.
One which this year takes place from the 5th
to the 10th of January and marks the 13th such meeting of
this Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in support of the Church of the Holy Land
and the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land.
During this Year
of Faith the pilgrimage to the the land where Jesus was born, died and resurrected
will focus in a special way on suffering and vulnerable people .
In addition
to prayer and the daily celebration of Mass there will be meetings with the local
communities and Catholic prelates from different rites, students, representatives
of civil society and local authorities.
Delegates will also be updated about
the current situation in the Holy Land by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem His Beatitude
Fouad Twal and the Apostolic Nuncio Monsignor Giuseppe Lazzarotto.
Veronica
Scarisbrick who will be travelling with the delegation spoke , prior to her departure,
to one of the main organisers of this 'Holy Land Coordination'. He’s the Auxiliary
Bishop of Birmingham, William Kenney who points to some of the highlights on this
year's agenda such as a visit to a Latin parish in Gaza and another to Syrian and
Iraqi refugees in Jordan. ...