WASHINGTON (CNS): Fear of violence in the Middle East has not kept pilgrims away from the Holy Land, according to United States Franciscan priests who frequent the sites commemorating the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Commissary and guardian of the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington Franciscan Father Jeremy Harrington said any hesitancy to visit these places was “overcome by faith and interest”.
He said the holy sites remained safe places to visit despite unrest in the region.
Fr Harrington also was sure the number of pilgrims would increase during the Catholic Church’s Year of Faith, which would begin on October 11 – the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council – and conclude on November 24, 2013 – the feast of Christ the King.
In pastoral recommendations for the Year of Faith, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Cardinal William Levada stressed the importance of pilgrimages to St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City and to the Holy Land, “the place which first saw the presence of Jesus, the Saviour, and Mary, his mother”.
Fr Harrington said that, when pilgrims visited the Holy Land, they not only came away with a deeper sense of their faith, but they also showed solidarity with the Christians living in the region.
Franciscan Father Garret Edmunds, a pilgrimage guide in the Holy Land and vice-commissary of the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, said he had seen an influx of pilgrims from Eastern Europe, Russia, India, the Far East, Africa and Brazil, which he attributed to emerging economies.
Franciscan friars, for more than 750 years, have had a ministry in the Holy Land preserving shrines, welcoming pilgrims, leading parishes and schools and housing, and feeding those in need.
Fr Harrington said the friars’ work at the holy sites was particularly important because it enabled these places to be monuments of faith, not just historical landmarks that were more like museums.
