Holy Land collection is sign of solidarity, faith, hope, cardinal says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While anchored in the hope that comes from Jesus' resurrection, Catholics should not forget the "tears, despair and destruction everywhere" they have seen in images from the Middle East, a top Vatican official said.

Terrorism and a massive military response to it are threatening the lives of Christians in the Holy Land who ensure that the places associated with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus are not simply museums, but witness to a living faith in him, said Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches.

In a letter released by the Vatican March 17, the cardinal pleaded with bishops around the world to take up the annual collection for the Holy Land on Good Friday, which is April 18 this year.

St. Paul VI formalized the annual collection in 1974 to promote and maintain "a strong bond between the faithful across the world and the Holy Places," the Vatican explained. The collection "is the main source of material support for Christian life in the Holy Land and a tool for the universal church to express solidarity with the ecclesial communities of the Middle East."

Funds are used for the upkeep of shrines like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. But they also are used to support the parishes, schools and social service projects of the local Catholic communities in those cities and throughout the region, as well as to fund training for priests, religious and university students.

"The territories that the Sacred Scriptures mention in the narrative of salvation history, which benefit in different forms from the collection, are: Jerusalem, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Turkey, Iran and Iraq," the dicastery said.

"As I write to you, our hearts are lifted by the ceasefire in effect. We know that it is fragile and that, by its very nature, it will not be enough on its own to solve the problems and extinguish the hatred in that area. But at least our eyes no longer see explosions, perpetuating the anguish of the irreparable," Cardinal Gugerotti wrote.

His letter was released the day before Israel, citing an impasse in negotiations with Hamas militias, launched aerial attacks on Gaza, reportedly killing hundreds of people and effectively ending the ceasefire that began in January.

"We have witnessed tears, despair and destruction everywhere," Cardinal Gugerotti wrote. "Now our hope is that the defeat inflicted by death will not be its eternal victory. And our hope is renewed in seeing the Risen One, Jesus Christ our Lord, who in that very land revealed the wounds of his passion, alive."

A report released by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, which was released with the cardinal's letter, noted that since the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, income from pilgrims and from local donations "have been reduced to a minimum," leading to decisions to scale back, suspend or cancel many projects, particularly tourist infrastructure, "in order to try to give priority to those issues which directly touch persons in need."

And for the projects that are going ahead, the Franciscans said, "we have preferred the employment of a workforce coming from the West Bank in order to offer work for Christians living in a territory which does not benefit from social welfare or from social security, and who in these last years, owing to the situation of conflict and various lockdowns, would have remained totally deprived of economic resources."

In addition to providing humanitarian aid and supporting education efforts in Gaza, funds from the collection have been used to support the only Latin-rite Catholic parish in Gaza, 135 parishioners in need and about 600 displaced people who have taken shelter in the parish compound, the report said.