Support for the Holy Land

Richard A. Sokerka

In just two weeks, we will be in the midst of Holy Week.

And when we attend the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday in our churches, Catholics in the Diocese and around the world will be asked in a collection to be taken up to give their support to the Holy Land, where Christ lived, died and rose from the dead.

The annual collection is taken up at the request of the Holy Father and is administered by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and the Congregation for Eastern Churches. The Franciscan Custody is responsible for most of the shrines connected with the life of Jesus as well as for providing pastoral care to the region’s Catholics, running schools, operating charitable institutions and training future priests and religious.

A list of the projects supported through the funds given to the Franciscan Custody included assistance to the Christian minority in the region, providing pilgrims access to the archaeological sites and Christian shrines and supporting education.

Among the maintenance and restoration work carried out were projects at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth and the Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.

Part of its emergency funding efforts to Eastern-rite and Latin-rite dioceses in the Middle East includes emergency aid to Syrian and Iraqi Christians returning to their homelands after the defeat of ISIS.

The collection also helps fund activities and educational grants for young people in the Holy Land, housing and small business projects there.

As we meditate and pray on Good Friday remembering the price Our Lord paid on the cross for our sins, also remember the needs and sufferings of those who live in the Holy Land.