The Vatican has issued an appeal to all the bishops and Catholic faithful to help the Holy Land, through the initiative known as the “pro Terra Sancta” or “Good Friday” collection.
The Collection was established by Pope Paul VI in 1974 in support of the Holy Places of Christianity which, for over 800 years, have been looked after by the Friars Minor of the Custody of the Holy Land, “with admirable fidelity.”
The Prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, Card. Claudio Gugerotti, signed a letter to all the bishops of the world (attached): “The Holy Land, the Holy Places, the Holy People of God are your family, because they are the heritage of all of us. I implore you to feel the Collection as one of your pastoral priorities: at stake is the survival of this precious presence of ours, which dates back directly to the time of Jesus.”
This year, the letter reads, “the Collection becomes an essential resource: after the pandemic, with the almost complete interruption of pilgrimages and the small economic activities that Christians in particular have created alongside them, many have been forced into exile. If we want to strengthen the Holy Land and ensure living contact with the Holy Places, we must sustain Christian communities” with “the generous support of your communities.”
The Dicastery also invites bishops and faithful not to organize parallel initiatives, even for the same purpose, “which would compromise the meaning and effectiveness of your charity, a universal initiative of the Successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome”.
In the note accompanying the letter, the Dicastery highlights that through the Collection, “the Custody of the Holy Land is able to carry out its important mission: preserving the Sacred Places, the stones of memory, and promoting the Christian presence, the living stones, through its many pastoral, educational, welfare, health and social facilities”.
The Custody of the Holy Land normally received 65% of the revenue of the Collection. Attached to the letter, there is the Summary Report of the Custody of the Holy Land on the projects and work done with the 2023/2024 collection.
