MAYNOOTH- 24 April 2008 - 430 words
Irish
church leaders to make peace visit to Holy Land
The leaders of Ireland's four main churches are to visit the Holy
Land next week from- Tuesday 29 April until Friday 2 May to express
a desire for peace in the area and offer Christian hope in a situation
where continuing hostilities are causing increased hardship for
ordinary people.
Cardinal Seán Brady, Roman Catholic Primate, Reverend Roy
Cooper, President of the Methodist Church, Dr John Finlay, Presbyterian
Moderator and Archbishop Alan Harper, Church of Ireland Primate
are responding to the urgent need for solidarity with local Christians
and will bring a message of peace from the Churches in Ireland.
The leaders' visit will focus mainly on Bethlehem and Jerusalem
where they will meet local church leaders and representatives
from the Palestinian Authority and Israeli Government and as well
as seeing at first hand the relief and development work that is
being undertaken by partners of Christian Aid and Trócaire.
The leaders will also take part in a joint service with local
Christians at the Shepherds' Field near Bethlehem on the theme
of 'keeping watch; a service of hope for peace' and visit the
Holocaust Memorial at Yad Vashem.
Cardinal Brady, who visited the area last January, and who may
accompany the Latin Patriarch on a pastoral visit to Gaza during
this trip (possibly Wednesday 30 April) recently described the
situation as one of terrible tension and trouble:
"The situation in the Holy Land and the continuing hostilities
are causing great hardship to both Palestinian and Israeli, and
to Jew, Muslim and Christian in both jurisdictions. There
is a sense of absolute desperation and that hope is running out.
It is in this kind of situation that voices of moderation need
to be heard; that actions of kindness and solidarity need to be
undertaken; that all the people of faith in God need to join together
and work together for peace."
Archbishop Harper sees the visit as one of listening to and experiencing
the difficulties of others: "This is an opportunity to show
the solidarity of churches in Ireland with people living in the
Holy Land and especially the Christian community. By sharing
our experiences of living through troubled times and listening
and observing we hope to share an authentic message of peace and
reconciliation which will offer hope in this awful situation."
Dr John Finlay hopes the reporting of the visit will create better
understanding of the Middle East situation in Ireland: "For
many of us we only think of the Holy Land as it is portrayed in
the Bible and pay little attention to what is happening there
at present. By experiencing today's Holy Land for ourselves,
establishing new links, building on existing contacts and recounting
what we see and hear to others, we hope that our churches will
be able to make appropriate gestures of solidarity."
Reverend Roy Cooper thinks the visit will be an encouragement
to all they meet: "As well as showing solidarity, all our
churches are involved in supporting the practical action of relief
and development work being carried on in the area by local agencies
with the help of our partners, Christian Aid and Trócaire.
Through our visits to various projects we want to broaden our
understanding and show our support and encouragement for all that
is being done to help those who are suffering in a very difficult
situation."
The leaders are encouraging prayers for their visit and the situation
in the Holy Land to be said in churches this Sunday.
Source: Irish Catholic Media Office
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