Mons. Fouad Twal
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
For us Christians we lost three young people. The first of them, Christine, the first girl who died was from, from, she was only afraid. Only afraid. She was trembling, she couldn't breathe and she died only from fear! Only from angustia.

Aware of the suffering of his people in the Gaza strip, the Patriarch has tried to be as close to them as possible.
Now that Israel has reopened access to Gaza under some conditions, the Patriarch is hoping to go there himself.

Mons. Fouad Twal
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
But at the same time we, leaders of religious communities all together, we gathered two days ago and we are planning to go to Gaza on the 4th of February.

The Pope himself wanted to comfort the Christian Community in Gaza, and so he sent his Nuncio with some money to help them.

Mons. Fouad Twal
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
The Nuncio went with the help in his hands to give it directly to the people, to Father Manawel, and there they will distribute.

The Pope did not spare any effort in speaking for peace and condemning the violence, while he waited for the official confirmation of his trip to the Holy Land, a trip that might possibly be postponed.

Mons. Fouad Twal
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
In fact we have some committees to prepare it and to think about it at the same time. But we know that the actual situation is not the best situation to receive the Pope. We hope that everything will be improved and we hope that the visit of the Pope can be a blessing for us all, can help us to have better relations between peoples, better relations between Christians at the ecumenical level, and better relations between Israel and Arabs.

Yes, the visit of the Pope might be postponed, but the archbishop encouraged Christians not to delay their personal pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

Mons. Fouad Twal
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
For sure: I say do not be afraid. The war is finished. This is Jerusalem, with violence and with peace. But come, come, come to see us, to pray with us and for us. We welcome everybody. We welcome our Christians and I will be happy to receive them here in the Patriarchate so we can meet, we can pray, they can ask... We welcome everybody.


A visit to the Holy Places is not only a spiritual adventure, but an effective contribution to the Church in the Middle East and a calling for peace all over the world.