GALILEE – To mark the sixth anniversary of the death of the Neocatechumenal Way co-foundress, Carmen Hernandez, young Catholics from the United States and Galilee had a meeting at the Domus Galileaea center, where Jesus is said to have given the Sermon on the Mount.

About 8,000 US and Galilean Catholic youth gathered yesterday, on Tuesday, July 19th, at the Domus Galileaea International Center, to attend a meeting organized by the Neocatechumenal Way. The event included chants, processions, prayers, readings and speeches, including one from His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who had been invited to come and speak about the Beatitudes.

The place of the meeting was exactly where Pope John Paul II presided over a Mass for the youth in 2000, on the occasion of the Great Jubilee.

The meeting was part of a pilgrimage for the US youth, who, on top of visiting the Holy Land, also had trips to Jordan and Egypt. The idea was for them to “rediscover the roots of their faith” in the land of Christ, by following in His footsteps and visiting the Holy Places.

By: Cécile Leca/ lpj.org