CV NEWS FEED // Warning that the presence of Christian communities in the Holy Land is at stake amid a fragile ceasefire in the region, the Vatican in a March 17 letter urged the world’s Catholic bishops to raise contributions for an annual collection that offers those communities crucial support and protection.
The letter states that the Collection for the Holy Places, which is taken up every Good Friday, supports pastoral initiatives in the Holy Land that operate schools, parishes, hospitals, homes for elderly persons, and support centers for refugees, displaced persons, and migrants. Pope St. Paul VI began the collection, which the letter described as “an essential resource” this year.
The letter’s signatory, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, explained that the 2020 pandemic almost completely halted pilgrimages to the Holy Land, causing the local economy to stall. As a result, many Christians were forced to leave. The conflict between Hamas and Israel that began in 2023 led even more Christians to depart from the Holy Land, exacerbating the problem.
“If we want to strengthen the Holy Land and ensure living contact with the Holy Places, we must sustain Christian communities that, in their various traditions, offer perennial praise to the God-with-us, also in our name,” Cardinal Gugerotti wrote. “For this to happen, we absolutely need the generous support of your communities.”
Cardinal Gugerotti, who is the prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, wrote on behalf of the Holy Father in the letter that the people of the Holy Land have been suffering greatly amid conflict in the Middle East. He wrote that the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel “will not be enough on its own to solve the problems and extinguish the hatred in that area.”
He urged the bishops to act concretely and swiftly to help life in the Holy Land begin again.
“Everyone, starting with children, has the right to live in peace and to have homes and schools again, to play together without the fear of seeing the satanic grin of death again,” he wrote. “It is true. For us Christians, the Holy Places have a special value; they are the incarnation of the Incarnation.”
Cardinal Gugerotti implored the bishops around the world “to become persuasive apostles” in efforts of garnering support from their communities for the Collection for the Holy Places. He described the current landscape of violence and death as “times of new Calvary.”
“The Holy Land, the Holy Places, the Holy People of God are your family, because they are the heritage of all of us,” he continued. “I implore you to feel the Collection as one of your pastoral priorities: at stake is the survival of this precious presence of ours, which dates back directly to the time of Jesus.”
He also requested that the bishops not promote second or “parallel” collections to raise money to support the pastoral initiatives in the Holy Land. This would not be as effective and would compromise the Vatican’s initiative, he wrote.
“Pope Francis sends all of you his Blessing: God will not forget, especially in this Jubilee Year of Hope, those who have become witnesses of His Providence and instruments of His Peace,” he concluded. “Our Christians of the Holy Land await you. Thank you and have a good Jubilee pilgrimage.”