Work is continuing in the Holy Land in preparation of the Synod of the Catholic Church in the Middle East to be held in Rome Oct. 10 to 24. Discussions will be based on the Lineamenta and Instrumentum laboris - or working document - presented to the Synod Fathers by the Benedict XVI during his trip to Cyprus in May. In recent days, Catholic Ordinaries from the Holy Land met to present and reflect upon various themes to be addressed in the different interventions during the Synod.Archbishop William Shomali, Auxiliary Bishop of Jerusalem: "The first preparation is prayer, because the Synod embraces many, many complex issues, such as the renewal of the Christian faith, the communion between the Eastern Churches, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, the emigration of Christians concerned with political conflict in the Middle East ... and all the 'strong' points."The Synod of the Catholic Church in the Middle East regarding Arab and non-Arab countries covers a vast geographical area stretching from Egypt to Turkey, Iran to Israel via the Gulf countries, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Cyprus. Therefore it touches directly or indirectly the reality of 14 million Christians who live among 330 million people. This makes the Synod for the Middle East complex and diverse.Archbishop Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem: "We come with our proposals, with our problems ... but we know that it is up to ourselves to remedy what is lacking. With this meeting we discovered vulnerabilite points, where we need to work, coordinating with many rites, with many immigrants, workers who are part of a global interfaith dialogue ... it's up to us to pick up more seriously this work. And the world certainly support us and prays for us and everything will be fine, we hope."The first day of work for the bishops ended with the solemn Vespers in Carmel in Bethlehem, with the participation of institutes of consecrated life in the Holy Land. An important moment of prayer took place for the special intentions of the Synod ... just a few dozen meters from the Basilica of the Nativity. So what is the future for Christians in the Middle East? "Fear not, little flock!", concludes the text  of the Istrumentum laboris, which appears concerned about the difficulties of the present moment. But at the same time, there is hope, founded on the Christian faith, in a better future, with full trust in Divine Providence.

Work is continuing in the Holy Land in preparation of the Synod of the Catholic Church in the Middle East to be held in Rome Oct. 10 to 24. Discussions will be based on the Lineamenta and Instrumentum...leggi tutto