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ENSURING THE CHRISTIANS’ FUTURE |
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Scritto da Oriente Cristiano
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Martedì 09 Marzo 2010 19:25 |
(Amman) - “The exhortation to the Church to ensure a future to the Christians and work indefatigably towards such purpose reveals all of Benedict XVI’s concern for our Oriental Churches. The future looks difficult, many devotees migrate, some help would prevent the Christians leaving the country. For us, the Pontiff’s encouragement is essential”. This is how father Fabian Adkins, Father Superior of the Franciscan Convent of Mount Nebo (Jordan), comments with SIR the traditional letter to the Bishops of the world, published yesterday, with which the Congregation for the Oriental Churches invites the Universal Church to the “Collection for the Holy Land” of Good Friday. “Faced with the exodus of the Christian devotees – adds the priest, who has been in the Holy Land for 32 years –, we risk losing our identity and the feeling of belonging to the Church. Faith cannot be merely consigned to paper, it must be experienced every day. Even the Christian presence here is a sign and message of the following of Christ, of the love for one’s neighbours. These are actual proofs of our attachment to these places in which Christ was born. Christians are their lively stones that pilgrimages must be able to experience”.
The appeal to Good Friday Collection, signed by card. Leonardo Sandri, who is the prefect of such Congregation, takes inspiration from Benedict XVI’s pilgrimage of last May: “I still have the images of that day before my eyes – recalls father Adkins –; for us, Christians of the Middle East, His visit had the effect of strengthening our faith, of confirming us in our mission of being the lively stones of this blessed land. It encouraged us to follow the Church and the Gospel. I think the same will happen with the forthcoming Episcopal Synod for the Holy Land, which we heavily rely on to draw the problems of the local Christian communities to the attention of the whole Church”. The lands on Mount Nebo were bought by the Custody of the Holy Land on 4th October 1932. That marked the beginning of the archaeological adventure of the site, which continues to this day with excavation campaigns directed, supported and encouraged by the Franciscan Fathers, especially by father Michele Piccirillo, who died in October 2008. The sanctuary of Mount Nebo is the only one of the Custody in Jordan and is also the only place bordering on the Holy Land that is associated with the Old Testament.
© SIR - march 9th, 2010
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