Beacons of hope in Holy Land universities: Patriarch Twal

January 08, 2013: “Here at the American University of Madaba and in Bethlehem University we can show them beacons of hope of which we are proud”, said Fouad Twal, the Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. He was addressing a delegation of bishops from Europe and North America, who visited the new American University of Madaba in central Jordan on Monday. One of the treasures here, he said, is the level of co-operation between people of different Christian denominations and of different religions, something which surprises many visitors but is a part of our daily lives we practically take for granted.

The visit of Bishops is part of the 13^th meeting of the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land. The delegation is organized by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, with a mandate from the Holy See to offer support to the Christian Churches and communities of the Holy Land.

The new American University of Madaba, is an educational venture launched by the Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, himself a Madaba native. Eesigned to accommodate 8,000 students, the university opened its doors on 17 October 2011, six years after the Council of Higher Education has granted the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem permission to open his own university.

In May 2009, the University has received the support of Pope Benedict XVI, who offered € 15 million for this project and blessed the first stone of the campus during his visit to the Holy Land. "In developing the talents and noble attitudes of successive generations of students - the Pope said - prepare them to serve the wider community and raise its standard of life. Transmit knowledge and instilling in students a love for the truth, which will greatly enhance their commitment to the values. Finally, this same intellectual formation will sharpen their critical skills, dispel ignorance and prejudice, and assist in breaking the spell cast by ideologies old and new." The University has been named American University of Madaba, for its association with the University of New Hampshire, which strongly supports this initiative.

Regarding the visit of the Bishops, the Latin Patriarch said that ‘the Holy See wanted this Co-Ordination, to show the Christian communities in the Holy Land that we are by no means forgotten by our Catholic brothers and sisters around the world. Their presence also reminds political authorities in these beautiful lands that there are bishops and many others who take the trouble to find out at firsthand how we are and what might help us live our vocation as the "living stones" of the Church of the Holy Land.”

This year, he said, they are focusing on suffering and vulnerable people, and are trying their best to discover how military conflicts have affected Christians and many others in Gaza and Syria, especially the effect of the influx of huge numbers of refugees into Jordan.

“I hope God will continue to bless the Episcopal Co-Ordination in Favour of the Holy Land, as it works with myself and the other members of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, the various Catholic relief and aid agencies, and the many others who help visitors from overseas to see and hear for themselves how Christians are faring in Christ's homeland”, added the Patriarch.