The 94th plenary meeting of the Eastern Church Association has come to an end. The meeting focused on the situation in the Middle East. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pizabala, stated that the Holy Land requires concrete actions rather than declarations.
(Vatican News Network)The 94th Plenary Meeting of the Aid Eastern Church Societies held in Rome ended on June 24. This meeting specifically focused on the entire Middle East, Ethiopia, Armenia, and Georgia. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pizabala, also attended the meeting, and he told the news network about the discussion at the meeting. The patriarch explained, “The summary report of the assistance to the Eastern Churches’ associations has always been positive, because very specific decisions were made in this meeting”.
What issues and hopes were highlighted in the meeting? Patriarch Pizabala said that it always starts with a socio-political analysis. Unfortunately, this analysis is negative. “Not only the holy place, but also in all regions where political differences, power struggles, and corruption appear. Then, we carefully studied the life of the church in these situations: together with many problems, we compared different ways of responding, positive and A suggestive attitude, which can be found in many specific plans to assist Eastern Church Societies in the analysis and research.”
Pope Francis received all the participants of the 94th meeting of the Eastern Church Societies on June 24th. He said that in the reconstruction and restoration of the Holy Land, people should precede the buildings. Patriarch Pizabala said that the Pope made sense. Now, if you want to give the Holy Land a future, you need to rebuild trust among the people who live there.
So, how can this be done? Which way do I need to go? The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem said, “The first thing to avoid is: (only) make a statement. We have many statements, but nothing has changed. In order to build trust, we need to make specific statements in this area. Action, take actions that can truly change people’s lives”.
In what ways can the Catholic Church promote the restoration of the Holy Land? Patriarch Pizabala said, “The first step is not to assume that we will be able to change the world. What we can do is to change the reality in the small environment where we work through encounters with people of different faiths and cultures. . We want to show an open and cordial style, but don’t be halfway people.”
Link URL: www.vaticannews.cn