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Birmingham: Bishop Kenney experiences frustration of Catholics in Gaza


Bishop Kenney - image PJ

Bishop Kenney - image PJ

“The Catholics of Gaza are embattled as they as such a small community.” That was the verdict of Bishop William Kenney CP, Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, a member of the 2012 Holy Land Co-Ordination, less than 24 hours after his return on Thursday, 12 January.

“It is deeply frustrating to see good believing Catholics so limited in what they are permitted to do and how travel is restricted because of the on-going political and economic situation,” emphasised Bishop Kenney, choosing his words with care during an interview at Archbishop’s House, Birmingham.

“I visited and was among the concelebrants at the Mass of the Baptism of Our Lord, celebrated by the Apostolic Delegate to Palestine, at the Holy Name Catholic Parish in Gaza on Sunday, 8 January.

“After Mass I met a young Catholic lady who told me that she could not travel to the recent wedding of her brother in Bethlehem. She is aged between 16 and 35 and travel permits are not given by the Israeli authorities to people in Gaza of that age. She was both upset and frustrated,” said Bishop Kenney.

“The level of poverty for the ordinary Catholics of Gaza has increased during the last two or three years since I was last there. There was less traffic on the streets. Shops I passed had fruit and vegetables for sale but not many customers.

“We visited one of the three Catholics schools in Gaza. We stayed for lunch with the religious sisters and the leading members of the parish. It was so frustrating to leave being only able to pray for them and not being able to do anything more to relieve their difficult situation,” said Bishop Kenney.

The Christian community of Gaza is made up of about 2,500 people, of whom Catholics number around 300, in a total population of some 1.5 million people.

“In Ramallah we met the Chief Palestinian Peace Negotiator. It is frustrating that so little progress has been made towards a lasting peace,” stressed Bishop Kenney.

“We were held-up at the border between Ramallah and Jerusalem for more than 30 minutes while the Israelis went through all our passports, added Bishop Kenney, the Moderating Bishop for the 2012 Holy Land Co-Ordination Meeting.

Bishop Kenney has now been part of the delegation on 11 of its 12 annual visits since it was mandated by the Holy See. He did not go in January 2003.

Archbishop Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool and Bishop William Kenney together with archbishops and bishops from the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and Italy, signed the hard-hitting Final Communiqué, released on 12 January.

Bishop Kenney described it as “the best yet” and drew particular attention to part of the first paragraph. It states: “While the faith we see in the Christians of the Holy Land is an inspiration to all, we have heard repeatedly and have seen ourselves that occupation and insecurity, fear and frustration dominate the life of people across this land. Blaming the other is an abdication of responsibility and a failure of leadership, a leadership that the people so desperately need.”

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