Israelis, Palestinians jointly invite pilgrims to come back to the Holy Land, 26 November, 2004, ISRAEL - PALESTINE – HOLY LAND, Jerusalem (AsiaNews)

Israeli and Palestinian Tourism Ministers thank the Pope for urging Christians to visit the Holy Places. Since 2000, the number of Christian pilgrims has dropped by half.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – “Oded Ben Hur, Israel’s Ambassador to the Holy See, told AsiaNews that the joint statement signed by the Israeli and Palestinian Tourism Ministers on Christian pilgrimages in the Holy Places was “a milestone of great importance on the path towards peace in the Middle East.”v

“We are organising another meeting in Rome,” the Ambassador said, “between the two ministers in order to encourage tourism in the Holy Land.” For him, the developing contacts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are a “good sign”.

In their joint statement released on November 24, Israeli Tourism Minister Gideon Ezra, and Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities Mitri Abu Aita agreed that in view of the upcoming Christmas festivities, “both ministries will cooperate in promoting tourism to the Holy Land and take effective measures to assure the safe and smooth passage of pilgrims and tourists visiting Israeli and Palestinian areas”. They also agreed to “create the appropriate atmosphere in terms of traffic to assure the best services for tourists and pilgrims to the Holy Land”.

Both ministers said they were “very grateful” to Pope John Paul II for “his message to the General Assembly of Italian Bishops urging pilgrims to visit the Holy Land”.

In their statements, the two ministers stressed that “tourism is not only a major economic force and an important tool for [a] nation’s prosperity, but also a means of bringing peace and building bridges of confidence between peoples of the Middle East”.

Recently, Christian leaders from different denominations present in the Holy Land had made a joint appeal to Christians around the world to come back to the Holy Places. According to Mgr Pietro Sambi, Vatican envoy in Israel, pilgrimages are “a spiritual and material encouragement to the small Christian communities” that dot the Holy Land.

Tourism has traditionally been one of the main sectors of Israel’s economy but has been hard hit by the Arab-Israeli conflict. The second intifada has cost it US$ 12 billion. Tourism has dropped by 60 per cent and 40,000 of 180,000 tourism-related jobs have been lost.

In 2000, Christian visitors represented 70 per cent of all tourists going to Israel. In 2001, that proportion dropped to 48 per cent; in 2002, it fell to 30 per cent.

In 2004, there were the first weak signs of recovery. In the first six months of the year, Israel received a million tourists, a number expected to reach 1.5 by December representing a 54 per cent increase over 2003.

This year the number of Catholic pilgrims rose by 114 per cent over 2003 for a total of 78,000 visitors. The Holy Places also attracted some 66,000 pilgrims belonging to Reformed Churches and 72,000 from other Protestant denominations as well as 352,000 Jewish tourists. (LF)

Call to Christians: Pilgrims, come to the Holy Land, 19 November, 2004, ISRAEL - PALESTINE – HOLY LAND, Jerusalem (AsiaNews)

Representatives of all Churches: "The West, driven by secularism, is forgetting Christians".

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) -- "A call to all people of faith: Visit the Holy Land". This is the title of a document signed by representatives of different Christian denominations in Jerusalem this week, to encourage Christians around the world to resume visits to the Holy Sites.

On Monday, November 13, the Custodian of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, papal representative Archbishop Pietro Sambi, and representatives of the Greek and Russian Orthodox, Armenian and Protestant Churches signed a joint statement urging Christians of the world to visit the Holy Land and, thus, contribute to preventing the exodus of Christians from these areas. It is the first time that Christians jointly sign a document of this kind.

"There are many things that divide Christians, but there are many more that unite us. The Holy Land is one of these," Fr. Pizzaballa said, echoing Pope John XXIII's famous phrase.

Archbishop Sambi referred to pilgrimages to the Holy Sites as times of "joy and spiritual enrichment", saying that they offer both spiritual and material encouragement to the small Christian communities there. Many Christian Palestinians in fact make a living thanks to religious tourism to the Holy Sites. Furthermore, pilgrims can create "an atmosphere of peace" that can contribute to "defusing the ever-tense political situation between Israelis and Palestinians."

The document bemoans the flight of Christians from the Holy Land. Today they make up only 1.6% of the population. "Along with the Christian exodus the Christian vision of man regarding the respect for the human person and human life is also disappearing, in a region in which these values are in open decline", the document states. It also laments the inaction of "governments of the Christian West", which, "driven by a false vision of religious freedom and perhaps by an exacerbated secularism," forget to help Christians and come to the aid of Palestinians for merely ideological and political motives. Speaking in support of the document, Israel's Minister of Tourism, Gideon Ezra, provided figures on the decline of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land. This decline has been the result of security problems related to the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. In 2000, Christians made up 60% of the 2.6 million tourists in Israel. In 2004, the percentage fell to 29. (LF)

HOLY LAND'S CHRISTIANS: GUARDIANS OF STONES? Discouragement Stalks the Faithful, Says Franciscan, JERUSALEM, NOV. 9, 2004 (Zenit.org)

JERUSALEM, NOV. 9, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Christians of the Holy Land need the warmth and presence of pilgrims if they are not to feel abandoned by the world, says the vicar of the Franciscan Custody.

In an interview with Spanish Catholic media on the situation in the Middle East, Father Artemio Vitores acknowledged the discouragement that Christians in general, and Catholics in particular, have suffered over the past four years of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising.

"It was sad to see Casa Nova, our house for pilgrims, with two people, or to go to the Holy Sepulcher and see no one," he recalled.

The priest continued: "And this has also created situations of crisis among the friars, not for financial reasons, but because it makes them wonder: 'What am I doing here?'

"I asked a friar in Tabga, next to Lake Tiberias: 'How many pilgrims came today?' 'Two.' If one is a scholar and likes to read, it's OK, but if you don't, you enter a crisis, and wonder: 'But what am I doing here? A guardian of stones? Very interesting, but still stones."

"Then there has been a movement -- and here one must acknowledge the role of the bishops' conferences, which are mobilizing to a degree, especially the Italian, but also the Spanish -- which I describe as 'coming to visit a sick person,'" added the Franciscan friar.

"We know that someone who is sick is not cured with one visit, but at least you give him a feeling of solidarity, of support, and I believe this is very important," he said. "Aside from the financial aspect, which gives the possibility of work to so many people, it is above all a question of solidarity: that Christians here can see that Christians worldwide are thinking of them."

"In the Christian world, especially at the level of nations, such as Spain, Italy, or France, the topic of Christianity does not resonate," he added. "Christians here wonder: 'Well, aren't these nations Christian? Aren't they at all interested in the Christianity of the Holy Land? What the Holy Land means for the Christian world? And this creates a crisis for them."

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ISRAELI APPEALS FOR CHRISTIAN PILGRIMAGES TO HOLY LAND Says It Is Vital That Catholic Community Not Vanish, JERUSALEM, NOV. 4, 2004 (Zenit.org)

JERUSALEM, NOV. 4, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Gideon Ezra, Israel's minister of internal security and tourism, appealed to Christians to resume their pilgrimages to the holy places, because they are "a help for peace."

The Israeli minister made his appeal during an extended meeting with Catholic journalists on the occasion of the Spanish episcopal conference's institutional pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Ezra recalled that John Paul II "has appealed to all Catholic Christians worldwide to visit the Holy Land," and that "one of the main reasons for the Pope's appeal is, in fact, the situation of the Catholic community of the Holy Land, in need of help."

"Any means of helping this community is welcome for us as members of the state of Israel," Ezra said. "For us it is very important that these communities, not only don't disappear but that they be strengthened, because over the last years the number of Catholics has decreased very much, especially in Bethlehem."

In regard to the isolation of Christians residing in Bethlehem, the minister said that "it would be a joy for us to be able to return to the situation prior to September of 2000, when movement between Bethlehem and Jerusalem was completely free. But since that time, the not-so-agreeable visits of terrorists have led to the present situation."

"The more pilgrims, the more job-permits, the more freedom of movement," he said, "the more the growth of the economy is promoted, both the Palestinian as well as the Israeli."

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WHY PILGRIMS ARE CRUCIAL FOR CHRISTIANS IN HOLY LAND According to Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem, JERUSALEM, NOV. 2, 2004 (Zenit.org)

JERUSALEM, NOV. 2, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The apostolic delegate in Jerusalem says that the resumption of pilgrimages to the Holy Land is crucial to ending the exodus of Christians.

Archbishop Pietro Sambi explained the situation in the Holy Land to a group of Spanish journalists who were in Jerusalem on an institutional pilgrimage.

"Christians in the Holy Land are a small minority, only 2% of the population," he said. "They feel themselves a minority in the face of the great Jewish majority, and the great Muslim majority."

"At the start of the second intifada, Jews worldwide organized themselves to help the Jews who are here," the archbishop said. "The Muslims of the Gulf and other parts of the world organized themselves to help the Muslims who are here. The Christians disappeared, and the few Christians who remained had the impression of being abandoned by the rest of their brothers."

"Material aid came from many other parts of the world, with which it was possible to help the schools to survive, and medical centers to continue to provide their services, but something was lacking: the presence of Christians," he added.

"Look, I am not afraid for the holy places," the apostolic delegate continued. "To say it in a rather brutal way, they bring too much money to the country and they will be respected. But these holy places will be living places, which help one to live, while there is a community around them that believes, loves and hopes. Without that community, the holy places would be cold museums, and no longer places of life."

"Pilgrimages are the most complete way to help the local Christians, the Mother Church of Jerusalem and of the Holy Land," he said.

"In the first place, it is a spiritual, psychological and human help," the prelate said. "Christians here look at pilgrims much more than the latter look at them, and this presence of pilgrims makes them say: Here we are few, but look how many brothers and sisters from many parts of the world come here. We are all part of a great family, the family of the disciples of Christ. It is a moral, human help of the first order."

"In addition to this," he added, "there is also the material help, because the majority of Christians of the Holy Land have specialized in the service of pilgrims: transport, guides, hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, etc. And when there are pilgrims, there is also help for local Christian families."

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