US Bishops on peace pilgrimage to Holy Land
(Vatican Radio) A delegation of 18 U.S. bishops have been in the Holy Land since September 10 to pray for peace. The “Pilgrimage for Peace” has visited and prayed at the various holy sites in Jerusalem, Galilee, Nazareth, and Bethlehem.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Relief Services, the international relief and development agency of the U.S. bishops, sponsored the pilgrimage.
The bishops on Sunday visited the war-torn region of Gaza, and viewed the destruction of the recent conflict with Israel. They also visited the small Catholic community there, and celebrated Mass.
On Tuesday night, the Bishop of Allentown, John Barres, spent the night in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, praying for peace.
Listen to the full interview with Bishop John Barres:
“It was extremely powerful,” he told Vatican Radio. “As I [prayed] all these images…of destruction, of the suffering of the people, and the need for peace, all those images and that experience I had on Sunday in Gaza were very powerful with me.”
Bishop Barres also said prayer is central to peace.
“St. John Paul’s insistence that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fulcrum of human history,” he said. “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fulcrum of every effort - however small, however big - to build peace in our world, and especially peace in devastated areas like Gaza.”
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