On October 8 and 9, the Christian Information Center in Jerusalem welcomed the members of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries for this semester’s meeting, which aimed to reflect on important issues of the Church in the Holy Land.
Fr PIETRO FELET, scj
Secretary-General AOCTS
“What is an Assembly of Bishops? Or rather, of the Catholic Bishops established in the Eastern countries? The authority as such is in the hands of the episcopal conferences for those who are of Latin Roman law, as in Europe or Latin America. The Easterners, instead, have a place where they decide to meet to examine the themes of their Churches.”
HE Mgr MOUSSA EL-HAGE, O.A.M.
Maronite Archbishop of Haifa and the Holy Land
“We meet every six months for two days, we talk about everything and together we live a good community life. We hope to be able to face, in the two days that we will be together, all the problems that have recently arisen and that affect the lives of Christians in the Holy Land”.
HE Mgr YASER AL-AYYASH
Greek-Melkite Catholic Bishop of Jerusalem
“As we know, Christians face many difficulties, and when they see us so united, thinking of them, they become stronger with the help, strength and grace of God.”
Among others, important topics such as migrants and clericalism were discussed.
Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm
Custos of the Holy Land
“In this Assembly, we must discuss a code of conduct for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults. And we must also discuss other issues such as clericalism, an update on the reality of the local Church and, therefore, the aspects that concern us speak of the pastoral aspect of our service to the Church”.
Since 1992, the Assembly has been held in different places in the Holy Land and this time the chosen city is Jerusalem.
Br JERZY KRAJ, ofm
Latin Patriarchal Vicar in Cyprus
“We are at the meeting of the Ordinaries of the Holy Land here in Jerusalem, the heart of our faith, but also the heart of the Custody and the Church in the Middle East. I bring the greetings of the community of Cyprus, bound to Jerusalem both for the attachment to the Latin Patriarchate and for the Custody”.
HE Mgr YOUSEF MATTA
Melkite Archbishop of Acre, Haifa, Nazareth and Galilee
“This is the first time that I have been here with my brother bishops at the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land. It is a new experience. We hope that all our faithful will benefit from being in communion with all the Bishops, for the good, but also for the prosperity of this land and of those faithful who have been entrusted to us”.
