With study, determination and faith, the graduates of the Terra Sancta Schools in Jerusalem and Bethlehem managed to overcome the Coronavirus and isolation and regularly completed their last year of high school, thus obtaining their high school diploma.

Br IBRAHIM FALTAS, ofm
Director of Terra Sancta Schools
“This group is very important to me. We all know the difficulties that we have had to face this year, but the children have been able to challenge and overcome them all with the help of prepared and competent teachers, and with the support of their parents. I am sure that theirs will be an important contribution to the future of this Holy City.”

MAJDOLINE ANTAR
Terra Sancta School Jerusalem graduate
“We managed to achieve these results despite the Coronavirus pandemic, thanks to all the teachers and Father Ibrahim.”

On 4 June, in the Auditorium of Notre Dame, there was the graduation ceremony for the 67th class of graduates from the Terra Sancta School in Jerusalem. The ceremony was attended by Br Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land, Br Ibrahim Faltas, Director of the Terra Sancta Schools, Consul General of Italy in Jerusalem Giuseppe Fedeli and the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to the Holy See Issa Kassissieh. Also present were Professor Maurizio Oliviero, Rector of the Italian University of Perugia, Joseph Hazboun, Regional Director of the Pontifical Mission in Jerusalem, and the Director of the Primary School Sister Farida Nasser, as well as the teachers and families of the graduates.

In his speech, Father Faltas explicitly asked the graduates to recite the prayer of St Francis “Lord, make me an instrument of your Peace”, so that the values on which the Franciscan principles are based can be heard from near and far.

Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm
Custos of the Holy Land
In our schools we try to educate Christians and Muslims in particular to live together, as the Pope says in his Encyclical “All Brothers” and in the Abu Dhabi Document, so that they can work together to build fraternity in the world and contribute to peace.”

The students presented an end-of-year essay with music, songs and poems, and thanked their parents and those who accompanied them on this journey.

JERIES ROFA
Graduated from the Terra Sancta School in Jerusalem
“I thank my school because it prepared me for university and because it allows me to build my future. From here I will start my path in the field of programming and technology.”

Br IBRAHIM FALTAS, ofm
Director of Terra Sancta Schools
“These are the young people of Jerusalem, the young people of the Jaffa Gate and the Damascus Gate, the young people of the Holy City, the young people of the Custody of the Holy Land. The Holy Land has been working in these Places for eight hundred years and has always done the impossible to preserve the people and the stones of these Holy Places.”

The following day, at the Terra Sancta School in Bethlehem – a city that has been named “capital of Arab culture” – 82 students were awarded their high school diplomas.
There was also Father Jamal Khader, Director General of the Latin Patriarchate’s Schools, together with representatives of civil institutions such as the Prefect of the Governorate of Bethlehem, General Kamel Hamid.
At the beginning of the ceremony the “Millennium Hall of St Francis of Assisi” was reopened after a period of restoration, where the coat of arms of the Custody of the Holy Land and a large image of the Star of the Nativity were installed.

Br IBRAHIM FALTAS, ofm
Director of Terra Sancta Schools
“It is a sports centre with international standards, but also a museum with works of art created by the students of the Terra Sancta School and the Piccirillo Handicraft Centre.”

In his speech, Brother Ibrahim Faltas encouraged the students to “leave a mark in life that distinguishes them from others”, he said, “and that their mark be honest, wise, rational and moral”.

Br IBRAHIM FALTAS, ofm
Director of Terra Sancta Schools
“Ninety-five per cent of the inhabitants of Bethlehem work in tourism, and there have been no tourists for seventeen months: today we want to bring joy back to these students and their families.”

Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm
Custos of the Holy Land
“In Bethlehem this year we tried to support the students and families in every way during a very difficult time.”

Br Ibrahim Faltas then praised the generosity of the Italian University of Perugia, which over the years has financed over 300 scholarships for students in Bethlehem.

NATALY SHATARA
Terra Santa School Bethlehem graduate
“In spite of everything, it has been a really good year, the time has flown by! We are very happy to have reached this milestone.”

At the end of the ceremony, the students received their certificates amidst applause from their parents.

Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm
Custos of the Holy Land
“I wish all students success not only at graduation but also in life, because graduation is like an open door to life.”

JERIES ROFA
Terra Sancta School Jerusalem graduate
“As graduates of the Terra Sancta Schools we will not forget to carry the Franciscan message: a message of love, of peace and fraternity!!!”

Source: cmc-terrasanta.org