In this spirit, HCEF rededicates its ecumenical work with faith that it may help to replace despair with hope, fear with security, and humiliation with human dignity for the Christians of the Holy Land.
April 27, 2005
For Immediate Release
The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) welcomes the election of Pope Benedict XVI as the successor to John Paul II. His Holiness John Paul II showed passionate support for the Christians of the Holy Land when he encouraged them during his March 2000 pilgrimage with the words, Do not be afraid to preserve your presence in the very place where our Savior was born!
In his homily opening the conclave of the College of Cardinals (April 18), Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, preached on the gospel of John: It was I who chose you to go forth and bear fruit. Your fruit must endure. The living stones of the Holy Land have a keen devotion to the fruit that endures since they also have a profound sense of temporal suffering and loss.
Pope Benedict XVI's great intellect and his life in the Holy Spirit will surely produce the fruit of greater solidarity among all Christians, including a greater solidarity between Holy Land and Western Christians. In the homily at his first Mass, he announced his primary commitment & of working tirelessly towards the reconstitution of the full and visible unity of all Christ.s followers. Calling this commitment a duty, Pope Benedict XVI said that expressions of good feelings are not enough. Concrete gestures are required to penetrate souls and move consciences, encouraging everyone to that interior conversion which is the basis for all progress on the road of ecumenism.
In this spirit, HCEF rededicates its ecumenical work with faith that it may help to replace despair with hope, fear with security, and humiliation with human dignity for the Christians of the Holy Land.
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The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, Inc. (HCEF) is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to preserve the Christian presence in the Holy Land by supporting the living stones. HCEF sponsors programs that build person-to-person, family-to-family, and church-to-church relationships. HCEF also supports children's education, housing, and job creation.
