“All of the Church must support the Middle Eastern Christians, feeding them with the hope that they do imbue themselves into us from the Land of our Salvation”. This was said by card. Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, during the 33rd National Conference of Renewal in the Holy Spirit (Rns), which was opened in Rimini yesterday by Mass officiated by him. “The Christians of the Holy Land are the victims of conflicts and contradictions that affect all the population of the Middle East. The innocent victims of this lack of stable peace are countless, even in recent times. The situation for Christians – the cardinal explained – is one of insecurity, for the present and for the future. The social and economic recovery of that vast area is unfailingly undermined, and this deprives, in particular, the young generations of any security for the future”. According to the Prefect, who will be one of the two chairmen at the Episcopal Synod for the Middle East, next October, “the current instability is fed by the injustices of the past, which are open wounds, and by blind terrorism. Insecurity damages the pastoral life of the Church, its work in the schools, in the health-care and charitable institutions, always open to the populations of other religions”.
The conference was opened by a presentation of the International Family Centre of Nazareth, which will be run by Rns, the first stone of which was blessed by the Pope during his journey in the Holy Land in May 2009. “It will be a powerful message of hope - card. Sandri said – and will give a very appreciable impulse to the new evangelisation of the families in the Holy Land and all over the world, by cultivating their spirituality, education and pastoral care, which are decisive for the life of the Church and of society. It is precisely the Christian families that suffer that extra grief, due to the social problems I mentioned before. The scarcity of work, the bleak prospects for the future, especially for children and young people, frustrate the unity and serenity of the families. The educational mission of the families, starting from Jesus’ Land, must find again a powerful impulse to everyone’s benefit”.

© SIR - 30 april 2010