N° XXXIX JULY 2015

“Lord our God,You chose the East to send Your only

Son and fulfil the plan of salvation.It is a young woman of the East, the

Virgin Mary, you chose to carry and givebirth to Your only Son.

It is in the East that He grew up,worked, and chose His apostles anddisciples.

It is in the East where He conveyedYour will and Your teachings, where Heperformed miracles and wonders.

It is in the East where He gave Himselfup.

It is in the East where He acceptedsuffering and death, and rose again.

It is from the East that He ascended intoheaven to sit at Your right hand.

We ask You to give the necessarystrength to Your children in the East sothat they may be fortified in the faith andhope of Your holy apostles.

Amen.”Saint Ephrem the Syrian*

* Saint Ephrem the Syrian, born in Nisibis(now Turkey) around 306, is venerated in theEastern Churches, and also in the West. He wasproclaimed Doctor of the Church by PopeBenedict XV in 1920. A Deacon, this greattheologian is one of the greatest Syriac-speakingpoets. He died on 9 June 373 in Edessa, wherehe had lived for ten years, after contracting theplague while attending the sick.

Let us pray withour brothers

of the East

The Order in Union with the Universal Church

The Order in Union with the universal Church

A LAND THAT CONTINUES TO BEAR FRUITSOF HOLINESS FOR ALL OF ITS INHABITANTS III

THE POPE WITH THE CARMELITES OF THE MIDDLE EASTAND THE CONGREGATION OF THE ROSARY SISTERS V

EXPOSITION OF THE HOLY SHROUD OF TURIN VI

A LETTER FROM THE POPE TO THE GRAND MASTER VIITHE SPRING MEETING OF THE GRAND MAGISTERIUM IXTHE CARDINAL GRAND MASTER’S VISITS XIANNUAL MEETING OF THE EUROPEAN LIEUTENANTS XIPARTNERSHIP WITH “VATICAN INSIDER” XIII

The Order and the Holy Land

The life of the Lieutenancies

SEARCHING FOR NORMAL DAILY LIFE:THE CHALLENGE OF REFUGEES IN JORDAN XIV

FIRST MASS CELEBRATED FOR THE FEAST OF OURLADY WOMAN OF VALOR IN TEL AVIV XV

SCHOOL SUBSIDIES AND WALLS NOT TO BE BUILT:THE CHALLENGE CATHOLIC COMMUNITIES FACEIN THE HOLY LAND XV

THE CONTRIBUTION OF LAITY AND FAMILIESTO THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH XVIII

CONFERENCE HELD IN TRIESTE ON JOHN PAUL II ANDTHE HOLY LAND A YEAR AFTER HIS CANONIZATION XIX

GRAND MAGISTERIUMOF THE EQUESTRIAN ORDER

OF THE HOLY SEPULCHREOF JERUSALEM

00120 VATICAN CITYE-mail: gmag@oessh.va

info.oessh.va

II N° XXXIX - JULY 2015

As the pages of our “new andimproved” Newsletter will indicate,recent Spring weeks have included

several important meetings: our GrandMagisterium and European Lieutenants,both in Rome and more recently, our NorthAmerican Lieutenants in Quebec.

While these sessions offer welcomedmoments for social interaction, they are socrucial for bringing us all up to date on theevents, opinions and suggestions of our far-flung members. Important as well, is thechance for us at “Headquarters” to relate ouractivities and plans, and explaindevelopments that have taken place inrecent months.

Interesting it is, that no participants atthese meetings receive a salary from theOrder at any level...all volunteer!Participants are invariably spirited andcandid in their exchanges, and I suspect asmuch is accomplished during informalconversations as during the often lengthyformal sessions.

In this effort, special credit is due toProfessor Agostino, our incredibly hardworking and dedicated Governor General, toour competent and insightful ViceGovernors General Giorgio Moroni Stampa

and Patrick D.Powers, and to ourwise and veryexperienced Assessor,Archbishop AntonioFranco. Hopefully,their intense efforts toencourage opencommunication on allsides will encourageour lieutenants toexpend every effort, in turn, to deliverinformation accurately to their every singlemember.

Above all, we must be united in a ferventintention to keep the Gospel of Jesus Christalive in His Holy Land. Success in reachingour goal might be measured by wordsrecently offered to our accomplished HolyLand Commission by our Apostolic Nuncioto Israel, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto:

“There is no other Agency, Society orOrder in the Catholic Church that has donemore for the Holy Land than the EquestrianOrder of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem”.

For which we offer thanks to Our Lord,and to our every single and generousmember.

REFLECTIONS OF THE GRAND MASTER

The GrandMaster of theOrder of theHoly Sepulchrewith theLieutenantsfrom NorthAmerica inQuebec, inJune 2015 (areport on thismeeting will beincluded in ournextNewsletter).

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St. Peter’s Square was filled with manylanguages and colors on Sunday May17, including the colors of the

Palestinian flag. The joy of the crowd, and inparticular of the 3,000 pilgrims who camedirectly from the Holy Land, was tangible.Four saints were canonized, two of whomwere Mariam Baouardy and MarieAlphonsine Danil Ghattas, daughters of theHoly Land and the first two modernPalestinian saints. Respectively founders ofthe Carmel of Bethlehem and of theCongregation of the Rosary Sisters, the twosaints lived their call to holiness from thesecond half of the 19th century (MariamBaouardy died while she was very young in1878) until the beginning of the 20th century(Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas died in1927).

Also present in the square was PresidentMahmoud Abbas, who had met with PopeFrancis the previous day. During theirmeeting, as reported by an official, “greatsatisfaction was expressed regarding theagreement reached with regard to the textfor a comprehensive Agreement between theParties, about certain essential aspects of thelife and activities of the Catholic Church inPalestine. The Agreement will be signed inthe near future*.”

During his homily, Pope Francis recalledMariam Baouardy’s “docility to the Holy

Spirit”, which “made her a means ofencounter and fellowship with the Muslimworld”. He went on to highlight how MarieAlphonsine Danil Ghattas “understoodclearly what it means to radiate the love of

A delegation of Palestinian Christians in Romewas overjoyed during the celebration on May 17,2015, paying tribute to the testimony of theircanonized compatriots: Saint Mariam and SaintMarie-Alphonsine.

The Order in Union with the Universal Church

A land that continuesto bear fruits of holinessfor all of its inhabitantsCoverage of the canonizations of the first two modern

Palestinian saints: Mariam Baouardyand Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas.

* The global agreement between the Holy Seeand Palestine, concluded on May 13, was signed onFriday June 26. It clearly recognizes the “State ofPalestine”. Negotiated over the past fifteen years,this bilateral agreement mainly concerns theactivity of the Catholic Church and its legalrecognition in the Palestinian Territories, andreaffirms the desire for a resolution of this issueand also of the conflict between Israelis andPalestinians in the context of a two-state solution.

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God in the apostolate, and to be a witness tomeekness and unity. She shows us theimportance of becoming responsible for oneanother, of living lives of service one toanother.”

“The Holy Land is fruitfuland brings forth fruits of holiness!”

What does it mean today, therefore, to bechildren of the Holy Land, and whatspiritual fruits can this happy event bringforth to Palestinian Christians and the wholeChristian community?

His Beatitude Fouad Twal, the LatinPatriarch of Jerusalem, sees this event as aspiritually significant moment for his land:“In the midst of all our difficulties, Mariamand Marie Alphonsine are a light on ourpath, an invitation not to be discouraged andto keep our eyes fixed on our goal and ourshared vocation as Christians: holiness. Iftoday the Holy Land, so torn by violenceand divisions, sometimes seems disfigured,our two saints come to restore its sanctity. Itis as if Mariam and Marie Alphonsine, by

their example, were saying to us, ‘Yes, theHoly Land can be fruitful, and it can bearfruits of holiness’.” His Beatitude continuedspeaking about the message left by thesenew saints: “It is a message of hope andlove, a message of encouragement toholiness through humility and simplicity.”(To read the full interview that Msgr. FouadTwal released to us go to our official websitehttp://info.oessh.va as well as to our partnerwebsite Vatican Insiderhttp://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/inquiries-and-interviews/detail/articolo/oessh-40924/).

The Patriarch’s words were echoed at thefestive celebration held on Saturday, May16, at the Basilica of St. Sabina in Rome,where a delegation from the Holy Land wasgathered, along with many devotees of thenew saints, including members of Order ofthe Holy Sepulchre from various countries.

Archbishop Maroun Lahham, PatriarchalVicar to Jordan of the Latin Patriarchate ofJerusalem, before entering the prayer vigil,said in all earnestness: “These two saintsteach us that the last word is neversuffering, it is never abandonment, it is not

Knights and Dames of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Saint Peter’s Square during the canonization of thetwo Palestinian saints.

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V N° XXXIX - JULY 2015

the cross but instead the glory, theresurrection and the light. Calvary is not thelast word but the gateway to a better life.”

In the midst of the crowd were those whodistributed flags and liturgy booklets.Among them was Ibrahim, who looks veryyoung but is already a doctor living andworking near Ramallah. He shared that hewas “proud that there are two saints comingfrom Jesus’ land, and that this is a messagefor the whole world: our land is still alive.”When asked what the future had in store forhim, he replied: “I’m studying Germanbecause I want to specialize in my work, butI want to continue to work for my peopleand to help them.”

The message of Mariam Baouardy andMarie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas is amessage that is destined to resoundforcefully both within the Church andbeyond. Patriarch Twal concluded: “Theirsearch for wisdom and their divine messagerepresent a model of perfection forChristians as well as for Jews and Muslims.Both have Mary, Miriam, as their first name;and this name, common to our threetraditions, is also a sign for our time,indicating that they can speak to all threewithout distinction.” E.D.

Image of the two Palestinian saints with OurLady of Palestine, who together watch over theHoly Land and all its inhabitants.

The day following thecanonizations, Pope Francis

met with the spiritual daughters ofMariam Baouardy and MarieAlphonsine Danil Ghattas, whocarry forward the legacy of thenew saints. The Holy Father askedthem to “pray for persecutedChristians who are driven fromtheir homes, from their lands, andare victims of persecution ‘withwhite gloves’”.

The Pope with the Carmelites of the Middle Eastand the Congregation of the Rosary Sisters

VI N° XXXIX - JULY 2015

“The shroud draws our attention tothe tormented face and body ofJesus and, at the same time,

directs our attention toward the face ofevery suffering and unjustly persecutedperson. It takes us on the same path as thegift of love of Jesus,” Pope Francis told us on21 June, after pausing in silent prayer beforethis icon of “the greatest love” (John 15:13),exposed in the Cathedral of Turin. Duringthe celebration of Mass on the same day inVittorio Square, he stressed “the faithfullove” of the merciful Father, who “makeseverything new”, and of Whom Jesus is the“face”. Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza diMontezemolo, Honorary Assessor of theOrder of the Holy Sepulchre, participated inthis pilgrimage of the Holy Father,accompanied by Pier Carlo Visconti, Advisorof the Grand Magisterium, three days beforethe closure of the extraordinary expositionof the Holy Shroud.

The Grand Master of the Order of theHoly Sepulchre went to Turin from 25 to 26April, just after the inauguration of the

exposition, to pray before the Holy Shroudfor the intentions of the inhabitants of theHoly Land in communion with all themembers of the Order around the World.

At the inauguration of the extraordinaryexposition on 19 April, the Order wasinvited to participate in a program on “RAIInternazionale”, broadcast on Sundays onthe five continents: Mgr Antonio Franco,Assessor, was interviewed by Sister MyriamCastelli about the “Resurrection spirituality”,whilst Father David Neuhaus, PatriarchalVicar for the Hebrew-speaking Catholiccommunity in Israel, intervened live fromthe Holy Land.

Moreover, the Communication Service ofthe Grand Magisterium of the Order workedin partnership with the Edizioni Terra Santaduring the exposition of the Shroud. Thefree application of an e-book forSmartphones and I pad, downloaded ongoogle play (“Il mistero della Sindone”),enabled pilgrims who went to Turin tobecome aware of the spiritual mission of theOrder.

Exposition of the Holy Shroud of Turin

OS

SE

RV

ATO

RE

RO

MA

NO “ICON OF LOVE”

The Holy Shroud shows us the faceof all the persecuted people: this isessentially what Pope Francis saidafter praying in silence before theHoly Shroud in Turin on 21 June.According to the Holy Father in aspeech during the prayer of theAngelus, after the celebration ofMass in Piazza Vittorio in the capitalof the Piedmont region, thismysterious shroud is the “icon oflove” of Christ. The printed image ofthe body of a tormented man,tortured and crucified, directs us to“the face of every suffering andunjustly persecuted person,” andquestions the conscience of eachone of us regarding our ownpersonal complicity with evil intoday’s world.

VII N° XXXIX - JULY 2015

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Proceedings of the Grand Magisterium

To Our Dear BrotherEdwin Frederick Cardinal O’BrienArchbishop Emeritus of Baltimore

Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre ofJerusalem

We are delighted now to turn Our attention to you, Our VenerableBrother, as you prepare to celebrate the golden jubilee of yourordination to the priesthood with a spirit of gratitude andthanksgiving. Indeed, fifty years have passed since that memorable day– the 29th of May, 1965 – when, having diligently completed yourphilosophical and theological studies at the archdiocesan seminary ofSaint Joseph in Dunwoodie, you were ordained a priest.

The occasion of this happy jubilee offers us a welcomedopportunity to recall the various stages of your pastoral journey, first inyour native Archdiocese of New York, then among soldiers in Vietnamas well as within the United States of America. Later you studied inRome at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, earning adoctorate in moral theology. Returning to your archdiocese, youassiduously carried out your many pastoral duties while fulfilling theresponsibilities of Vice-Chancellor. You then showed your many talentsas archdiocesan Director of Communications and as private secretaryto the Archbishop of New York. In the following years, you devotedyourself to the prudent and wise formation of priests, first as rector ofSt. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers and then as rector of the PontificalNorth American College in Rome.

Having recognized your skills and your priestly zeal, Saint JohnPaul II raised you to the rank of Bishop and appointed you Auxiliary ofNew York on February 6th, 1996. From 1997 to 2007 you carried outthe role of Ordinary of the Archdiocese for the Military Services of theUnited States of America, tirelessly preaching salvific truths to theenlisted men and women with due consideration to the needs of thepresent day. Then, in 2007, Our Venerable Predecessor Benedict XVIappointed you Metropolitan Archbishop of Baltimore, whose peopleyou led in the way of truth and holiness for four years. You made great

A letter from the Popeto the Grand Master

strides there in advancing the new evangelization, and you took particularcare to promote vocations to the priesthood and to the revival of Catholicschools. Now, as you fulfill the duties of Grand Master of the EquestrianOrder of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, which you began in 2011, everfaithful to your episcopal motto Pastores dabo vobis, you carefully attend tothe spiritual life of this ancient and venerable association. On February18th, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI elevated you to the rank of Cardinal, thusshowing you his particular admiration, thanks, and trust in youroutstanding abilities.

Neither are We unaware of the energy and expertise you bring toseveral Roman dicasteries, especially the Congregation for EasternChurches, the Congregation for Catholic Education and Institutes of Study,the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and the Pontifical Council CorUnum. We also wish to acknowledge your zeal, your fidelity towards theChurch’s Magisterium and your eagerness in carrying out whatever dutiesyou are entrusted with. In both your priestly and episcopal assignments,you have always placed primary importance on the spiritual wellbeing ofthose you serve, as well as of those with whom you serve.

In a spirit of fraternal charity,therefore, We are extremely happyto join you in giving thanks to God,the giver of all good gifts, and tocommend you for your fruitfulministry.

We also extend our mostsincere wishes to you, OurVenerable Brother, that the GoodShepherd, through the intercessionof the Blessed Virgin Mary, mayvigilantly watch over you with hiscare and protection. As youcelebrate this special anniversary,We wish to impart to you OurApostolic Blessing, which We alsoextend to all those who will join incelebrating with you. At the sametime, We beg your prayers andtheirs, so that We may assiduouslycarry out the Petrine missionentrusted to Us.

Given from the Vatican,on the 5th day of May, 2015,the third of Our Pontificate.

VIII N° XXXIX - JULY 2015

IX N° XXXIX - JULY 2015

During this Spring session wereaddressed the questions of thespiritual life of the 30,000 members

of the Order, and also the material needsassociated with their support of the CatholicInstitutions in the Holy Land.

Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, Grand Master,opened the meeting, welcoming thepresence of the new Master of Ceremonies,Monsignor Fortunato Frezza, renownedbiblical scholar, hoping with his help todevelop a greater spirituality within theOrder. He affirmed his willingness tocontinue visiting Lieutenancies, havingalready covered 26 countries. He hadplanned a dozen additional trips before theend of the year, in particular for InvestitureCeremonies. He said he would then beavailable to respond to further invitationsaddressed to him.

The Governor General, AgostinoBorromeo, recalled that no Grand Masterhad ever travelled the world so much,meeting members of the Order on theirhome territory, trying to promote on-sitelinks with leaders of the local Churches.This will again be the case in October,during the first joint meeting of theLieutenants of Asia and Oceania inAustralia, which will include the bishopswho have the responsibility of Grand Priorsin the Lieutenancies. In a quick review ofrecent months, the Governor General alsowelcomed the development of the Order inLatvia and the Czech Republic, as well asthe positive results of the accounts of the

Grand Magisterium. The Latin Patriarch ofJerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal, thenspoke of the great event of the canonizationin Rome on 17 May 2015 of two PalestinianSisters, Mariam Baouardi and Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas, with the participationof a delegation of about 3,000 pilgrims fromthe Holy Land.

He stressed the urgency of not forgettingthe plight of the people of this region,especially the desperate living conditions ofthe survivors of the bombing of the summerof 2014 in Gaza, and especially the plight ofrefugees from Syria and Iraq in Jordan. ThePatriarch was pleased that, after a longprocedural battle, the Israeli High Court ofJustice had invalidated the route of theseparation wall which was to halve theCremisan Valley, thus allowing 58 Christianfamilies in Beit Jala to escape expulsion.

The debate continued for several hours,behind closed doors, on a delicate subject:the unexpected debt that affects theUniversity of Madaba, founded with thesupport of two Popes, Saint John Paul II andBenedict XVI, in the Hashemite Kingdom ofJordan. Archbishop Antonio Franco,Assessor of the Order, analyzed the facts onbehalf of the Commission set up a fewmonths earlier by the Secretariat of State ofthe Holy See, to study the problem. Hehighlighted the good current academicmanagement of the institution, explainingthe debt by initial investments for whichpayment has not been honoured. A letter toLieutenants was formulated during the

The Spring meetingof the Grand MagisteriumMembers of the Grand Magisterium of the Order of the

Holy Sepulchre met in the presence of the Grand Master on21 and 22 April 2015, thereby fulfilling their mission of

coordinating the 63 Lieutenancies and MagistralDelegations throughout the world.

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meeting of theGrand Magisterium,to keep theminformed of thedecision taken bythe Holy See tosupport theUniversity with newguarantees, througha VaticanFoundation,specifying the lackof responsibility ofthe Order in thissituation, but byappealing to thesolidarity of itsmembers in theinterest of theuniversal Church.

The meeting thenresumed, followingthe original agenda.The GeneralAdministrator of the Patriarchate describedseveral human issues in the Holy Land,including housing of families in Jerusalem,reception of migrants, teachers’ salaries, andpastoral care of young people, many ofwhom wish they could go to Krakow in 2016for World Youth Day.

With 67 parishes and 43 schools for90,000 faithful Catholics of the Latin Rite(42,000 in Jordan, 30,000 in Israel and18,000 in Palestine), the Latin Patriarchate ofJerusalem is facing many challenges – fromCyprus, through Israel and the PalestinianTerritories, to Jordan. The Order of the HolySepulchre supports various projects eachyear to help with the situation, in addition tothe monthly assistance paid to thePatriarchate for institutions like schools forexample.

The President of the Holy LandCommission, Thomas MacKiernan,presented a report on those projects after afield visit in March. In 2014 the Orderhelped the Centre for Migrants in Tel Aviv,

the school of Mafraq, the Zarqa parish, andthe Na’our school. Among the newproposals in 2015, the Order will help funda home for children in the Galilean parish ofJaffa, a multicultural area at the Centre ofOur Lady of Peace in Jordan, and a home forrefugees in a parish church of Amman.

The Grand Magisterium, which managesdonations from all Lieutenancies, had abetter record than the previous year, with10,981,000 Euros in total, as explained byEngineer and Advisor Pier Carlo Visconti.Pierre Blanchard, for his part, describedasset management and securitiesinvestments of the Order in the service ofthe institutions of the Latin Patriarchate ofJerusalem. Finally the Chancellor IvanRebernik kept members of the GrandMagisterium abreast of the latest workinvolving communications of the GrandMagisterium, especially the creation of anew website in progress, and the importantwork undertaken to better conserve thehistoric archives.

X N° XXXIX - JULY 2015

In a Jordanian parish of the Latin Patriarchate: caravans installed to lodgerefugees from other countries of the Middle East.

On 11 and 12 May 2015 somethirty European Lieutenants ofthe Order of the Holy Sepulchre

held their annual meeting at the PalazzoDella Rovere, headquarters of the Order,situated near Saint Peter’s Square,Rome, in the presence of the GrandMaster of the Order, Cardinal EdwinO’Brien, and representatives of theGrand Magisterium.

In opening the session the Grand Masterspecially welcomed the new Master ofCeremonies, Mgr Fortunato Frezza,responsible forsupporting thespiritual life of theOrder, as well as newLieutenants fromGermany andPortugal, and theMagistral Delegate ofLatvia, a countrywhere the firstInvestiture took placelast November. Hethen stressed hiswillingness tocontinue to visitmembers of the Order

Annual meetingof the European Lieutenants

XI N° XXXIX - JULY 2015

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The Cardinal Grand Master’s visits

Cardinal O’Brien traveled to Disentis, Switzerland, from May 8 to 10, to preside overthe Investiture Ceremony. Most recently, in early June, the Grand Master attended

the American Lieutenants Meeting, which took place in Quebec.In September, His Eminence will visit various Lieutenancies for the Investitures:

Scotland (September 5), Sweden (September 7), Slovenia (September 12) and USANorthwestern (September 20). In the same month, Cardinal O’Brien will attend the WorldMeeting of Families with the Holy Father in Philadelphia.

on all continents, tooffer hiscontribution in mobilizing them in favour ofEastern Christians, many of whom havefound refuge in the parishes of the LatinPatriarchate of Jerusalem, particularly inthe Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The Governor, Agostino Borromeo,continued by responding immediately to alibel that Lieutenants had received inprevious days concerning the Columbushotel. Clarifying the situation, he explainedthat, since 2001, in compliance with theConstitution of the Order, the successiveGrand Masters decided to increase thefinancial “reserve” in order to maintain andrestore all of the block of the Palazzo DellaRovere, part of which has been leased to theColombus Hotel for the past fifty years. Thelatter will vacate the premises soon and thefuture rental envisaged with anothercompany should enable the Order both tocover all expenses of the GrandMagisterium and to generate profits for theHoly Land. There is therefore totaltransparency in this operation, as was

demonstrated by theGovernor who,

having explained the situation, decidedpersonally to forgive his accusers, and toextend a hand of friendship in view of theforthcoming Jubilee of Mercy. Lieutenantsunanimously assured the Grand Master andthe Governor of their full support.

After this clarification the ChancellorIvan Rebernik spoke of the numericalgrowth of the Order, presenting thestatistics of the previous year, rejoicing thatnearly 300 new members have joined theOrder, offsetting recorded deaths. He alsospoke of the communication efforts made inrecent months, particularly with thedecision to create a new website in fivelanguages, at the level of the GrandMagisterium, in conjunction with theservices of the Holy See.

The Engineer Pier Carlo Visconti for hispart presented the financial report of theGrand Magisterium, showing an increase indonations for 2014. Pierre Blanchard gavedetails on the management of investmentsand securities. President of the Holy Land

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The European Lieutenants gathered in thePalazzo Della Rovere, in May 2015.

Commission of the Grand Magisterium,Thomas McKiernan stressed the need for akindergarten for the Saint James Vicariateserving the Hebrew-speaking Catholics inIsrael, before describing the three projectsin 2014 in Jordan: work in the parish ofMafraq, in that of Zarka North, and for theschool of Na’our. The 2015 projects arerelated to the parish of Jaffa in Nazareth,Israel, and the adjoining school, the CenterOur Lady of Peace which hosts refugees inJordan, and to the parish of Marj Al-Hamam, Amman, where caravans areinstalled for the Middle East refugees. “Noother organization does as much as you forthe Holy Land,” said Archbishop GiuseppeLazzarotto, the Apostolic Nuncio in Israeland Cyprus and Apostolic Delegate toJerusalem and Palestine, receiving themembers of the Holy Land Commission.

The debate with the Lieutenants relatedin particular to the wish to see theemergence of more projects of a pastoralnature, which will be passed on to thePatriarchate of Jerusalem, which addressesrequests to the Grand Magisterium thatare, indeed, often related to its real estatecapital in Jordan, currently the most stablecountry in the Middle East for Christians.

The issue of recruitment also occupiedpart of the meeting; the Lieutenantsaffirming their desire to strengthen thequality of Christian life of members, men

and women, so that through theirtestimony, the Order can develop further,away from worldliness, ensuring that thoseonly seeking honours and medals areexcluded to better accommodate humbleand generous candidates, truly committedto Christ, engaged in their local church.“The difficulty is not to find candidates, thedifficulty is to find good candidates,”summed up a new Lieutenant. Everythingwill be done now for the evangelicalrenewal of the Order, in the spirit of thepontificate of Francis.

The debate continued on the issue of thesignificant debt relating to the University ofMadaba, following the information letteraddressed to Lieutenants after the meetingof the Grand Magisterium, in late April.Archbishop Antonio Franco, Assessor ofthe Order, recalled the decision of the HolySee to save this university founded inJordan with the support of two Popes,noting that the Order – which has noresponsibility in this issue – is invited toparticipate in this action through a VaticanFoundation. The members of the Order,especially through their connections, canhelp the Providence of God to graduallyrestore the financial equilibrium of theuniversity that is seen in the HashemiteKingdom of Jordan as an institutioninvolving the Church of Rome.

F.V.

The Communication Department of the Grand Magisterium of the Order of the HolySepulchre has, for some weeks, worked in partnership with the Vatican Insider site, where

from now on our news will be well circulated in English, Italian and Spanish. The letter ofCardinal O’Brien for Easter was, for example, posted on this site. This is a secular site,attentive to the teachings of Pope Francis, moderated by journalist Andrea Tornielli of LaStampa. To communicate effectively we could not remain isolated. Last autumn, theheadquarters of the Grand Magisterium hosted a diplomatic conference, organized inconjunction with the Vatican Insider, in the presence of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary ofState of the Holy See: the event, reported in the December Newsletter, marked the beginningof our collaboration with this site (http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/).

Partnership with “Vatican Insider”

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In recent years Jordan had already becomethe home of 30,000 Iraqi refugees. Due tothe ISIS militants’ advancement to Mosul

and the Nineveh Plains, some 17,000 newrefugees have knocked on the doors of theHashemite Kingdom, which has grantedthem entry visas thanks to the generosity ofKing Abdallah II. They are men, women andfamilies who were denied their property, andwho, in many cases, were persecutedbecause of their Christian faith.

There are various challenges that they faceupon arriving to Jordan: finding a place tosettle, dealing with the necessary proceduresfor documents, and attempting to overcomethe trauma, so that they, step by step, canbegin to live a normal life again. It is withinthis context of necessary support for thosewho have lost everything and are trying toget back on their feet that the Order of theHoly Sepulchre, in collaboration with theLatin Patriarchate of Jerusalem’s “Our Ladyof Peace” Centre in Amman, has financedspecial activities for the refugees who arewelcomed there.

A day trip to Petra was organized and tookplace on April 18, which included a guidedtour, lunch and horseback riding for severaldozen refugees who are hosted by the Centre.Father Ala’ Alamat, director of the “Our Ladyof Peace” Centre, said that “the importance ofthis initiative lies in wanting to revive hopewithin these families, and to strengthen theircourage”.

The Lieutenancy of Portugal has directlytaken to heart the situation of these families’children and their need to be reinserted as

soon as possible back into a normalenvironment. “If you think for a momentabout the whirlwind of emotions that afflict achild who has been removed from hisenvironment”, explains Nuno Maria MichaelGabriel Rafael de Bragança van Uden,Lieutenant of Portugal, “it is clear that wemust not only feed and clothe the children,but also support their emotional stability.Education, through teaching, but alsothrough the regular evaluation of theirundertakings, such as being in a classroom,having a professor and being part of aproject: this is a tool that allows thesechildren to get back on the path of life.”

Thanks to the support of the PortugueseLieutenancy, the Centre in Amman has setup courses in English, computer science andphysical education for children who nowhave the opportunity to go to school again.This project is showing great results andhelping young people to gradually regainconfidence in the future.

The Order and the Holy Land

Searching for normaldaily life: the challenge

of refugees in Jordan

Education is necessary for refugees to enablethem to regain confidence in the future.

Often in the Holy Land the witness ofthe Christian community and thecomplexity of the situations in

which the Church has to operate are twosides of the same coin.

Claudio Maina, Director of theSecretariat of Solidarity for Schools andInstitutions in the Holy Land* whichsupports schools that are neither linked tothe Custody of the Holy Land nor to theLatin Patriarchate, expresses in an

First Mass celebratedfor the Feast of Our Lady Woman

of Valor in Tel Aviv

School subsidies and wallsnot to be built: the challenge

Catholic communities facein the Holy Land

On May 9, Msgr. Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, Patriarchal Vicar for Israel, celebrated the firstMass for the Feast of Our Lady Woman of Valor in the Centre that was recently opened

for Hebrew-speaking Catholics and Migrants in Tel Aviv, due to the substantial support of theOrder that has taken to heart the situation of these faithful and the need for a centre thatwould welcome them. Hundreds of people attended the Mass, which was accompanied byhymns in the various languages that are spoken at the Centre: Tagalog, Konkani, Sinhalese,and Hebrew. After Msgr. Marcuzzo’s moving homily on Mary and the figure of the Woman ofValor in the book of Proverbs (Prov 31:10-31), the Mass ended with words of gratitude fromFr. David Neuhaus S.J., Patriarchal Vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics and Coordinator forthe Pastoral care of migrants. The celebration continued with a meal shared in fraternity.

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* The Secretariat of Solidarity was establishedby the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in1977, at the request of the agencies that are part ofROACO (Reunion of Aid Agencies for the EasternChurches). It is dependent upon the ApostolicDelegation in Jerusalem and works closely withpapal representatives, primarily in the service ofCatholic schools in the Holy Land (Palestine,Israel, Jordan and Cyprus) which supports schoolsthat are neither linked to the Custody of the HolyLand nor to the Latin Patriarchate.

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interview, published in full on the VaticanInsider website(http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/world-news/detail/articolo/oessh-41340/), hisconcerns about the situation surroundingCatholic schools in the Holy Land. It isevident that “there is serious concernweighing on schools in Israel over threatsfrom the Ministry of Education todrastically reduce funding, while inPalestine it has still not yet been possible tocreate a pension fund for teachers”. Inaddition to this there has been a decline inChristian children attendance at theseschools. Of the 56,000 children whoattended Catholic school last year, 48% areChristians, while the majority of the othersare Muslim, and some are also Druze orJewish. Maina said: “One might wonderwhy, given that the decline is due onlypartially to emigration. There are manyreasons that cannot be generalized.However, if we look at the poorest areas, itis often the burden of school fees thatmakes Christians turn to public schools.” Inorder to curb this phenomenon – we mightadd – the Order provides significant aid toschools of the Latin Patriarchate ofJerusalem, and a portion of this is used topay for the education of boys and girls whocome from families in need.

“Christian Schools are not for sale”

On May 27, the Office of ChristianSchools in Israel organized a demonstrationin front of the Ministry of Education inJerusalem. They were protesting politicaldiscrimination, which for three years hasbeen exerted by the Ministry againstChristian schools through a gradualreduction in state subsidies, while schoolsthat accommodate Jewish students continueto receive them in their entirety. OnSeptember 1 of last year, a day-long strikehad been canceled when the Ministryshowed a willingness to negotiate. Sincethen a commission has been created, which,after eight months of work, has proposed

that Christian schools become part of thepublic system, and therefore lose the abilityto carry on Christian education. Faced withthis unsatisfactory proposal, a group ofabout 700 people gathered in protest, usingslogans such as “Take your hands off ourschools” and “Christian schools are not forsale”.

Claudio Maina recounted some of hisexperiences of daily life in Catholic schoolsin the Holy Land, and stressed thateducation imbued with Christian values isan important tool to promote coexistenceand dialogue. The Rosary Sisters’ school inGaza, for example, seems an oasis of peacein a city where you can still see theconsequences of the conflict: “The religiousand teachers are ingeniously finding waysto help children recover from the traumasof the conflict and return to a normal life.Another example is a school in Jordanwhere most of the students are Muslim.Every year at Christmas they send me anenvelope containing some money, the resultof the students’ small sacrifices, which theywish to send to help other poorer children.Then there is the example of a school inHaifa, Israel, where in the courtyard yousee large murals illustrating their mottos: tolove everyone, to love first, to love ourenemies... Every morning the students andteachers are invited to choose one of thesemottos together and to put it into practiceduring the day.”

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Catholic schools in the Holy Land encourageinterreligious dialogue and the culture ofencounter, thus contributing to peace. Forexample, in a school in Haifa there are littlephrases on the walls of the playgroundencouraging children to love one another (herewe can see teachers and pupils trying to putthese “slogans” into practice each day throughgames).

A battle won against the Wall

Another difficult situation for the HolyLand is that of the separation barrier. It iswith great joy that on April 2, after nineyears of legal disputes, the final verdict wasreleased from the Israeli Supreme Court onthe construction of the wall in the CremisanValley (which would have caused theseparation of two Salesian religious housesand expropriated land belonging to 58Christian families) which was described as“damaging to the local population and themonasteries of the valley”. In addition, thecourts noted that “the plan of the Wall, as

suggested by the Ministry of Defense, is notthe only option that would permit aguarantee of security with the least possibledamage, in compliance with IsraeliAdministrative Law.” As reported by thePatriarch Fouad Twal during the Springsession of the Grand Magisterium, thisexcellent news is considered as “a greatvictory for democracy in Israel”, as thejudges have been courageous in making thisdecision, ordering the army to draw upalternative routes for the wall and for thelocal community who “since the petition in2006 have met every Friday to celebrateMass in this place.”

The construction of a wall in the Cremisan Valley will not go forward, thanks to a courageous decision byIsraeli judges who listened to the arguments of the local population.

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In view of the forthcoming Synod on theFamily in October 2015, we would like tooffer a brief reflection on the life of the laitywithin the Order, and in particular on theimportance of families.

In the year 1988, John Paul II publishedthe apostolic exhortation ChristifidelesLaici, highlighting the role of the laity

within the CatholicChurch. “With thisExhortation the layfaithful are invited totake up again andreread, meditate on andassimilate with renewedunderstanding and love,the rich and fruitfulteaching of the Councilwhich speaks of theirparticipation in thethreefold mission ofChrist”: the priestly,prophetic and kingly(CL 14). The entireChurch is called towork in the Father’s vineyard, and in thismission that has been entrusted “the layfaithful have an essential and irreplaceablerole: through them the Church of Christ ismade present in the various sectors of theworld, as a sign and source of hope and oflove” (CL7).

The Equestrian Order of the Holy

Sepulchre, as a lay institution placed underthe protection of the Holy See, feels this callin a special way. During her visit to Rome in2013 for the gathering of the EuropeanLieutenants, Helene Lund, MagistralDelegate of Norway, shared her thoughts onthe topic with the Communication Service ofthe Grand Magisterium of the Order, saying:“The majority of the faithful in the Church

are the laity, and we arecalled to witness to ourFaith and to be part of theChurch’s mission. For thisreason, working withother laity, and being partof an order that iscomposed mostly of laypeople, sustained with thehelp of priests, is ablessing, and itencourages people tounderstand their dailylives within the light ofthe work of the Church.”*

As a wife and motherof two children, Helene

considers her bond with the Holy Land as a“family matter”, which she and her spouse

The Contribution of Laity andFamilies to the Life of the Church

The life of the LieutenanciesThe Lieutenancies are invited to contact us to share their experiences:

comunicazione@oessh.va

Excerpts from an interview with Helene Lund, Magistral Delegate of Norway.

The Norwegian Magistral Delegate,wife and mother, shown here during arecent working session at the GrandMagisterium of the Order.

* The full interview with Helene Lund,Magistral Delegate of Norway, will be publishedin the Annales 2015, the Order's internationalpublication.

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“John Paul II, light of the Holy Land” was the title of the conference organized by the TriesteDelegation of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, which was held onthe 10th anniversary of Pope Wojtyla’s death. The event took place on Saturday, May 16, in

the Church of San Michele del Carnale. Msgr. Giampaolo Crepaldi, Archbishop of Trieste, RobertoVitale, Delegate of the Order for Trieste, and Enzo Livia, Holy Land historian, turned the spotlighton the marks that this Pope from the East has left on the world. Through personal memories, theyrecounted John Paul II’s love for the Holy Land, and for the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchreof Jerusalem, but above all, they spoke about the man behind World Youth Day, remembering, onthe first anniversary of his canonization, the Pope who became a Saint. “Karol Wojtyla wasundoubtedly one of the most beloved popes in Church history,” said Roberto Vitale, “and one of themost influential figures of the twentieth century. I remember when this man, in October 1978,looked out from the balcony of St. Peters after his election, and invited the faithful to correct him ifhe had not expressed himself well in the Italian language. He was a humble man with a greatcommunicative strength, which never wavered, even during his long illness.”

Conference held in Triesteon John Paul II and the Holy Land

a year after his canonization

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share with their children, whom they areplanning to take to the Holy Land onpilgrimage in the Fall. On the importance offamily life, Helene says: “I think that whenyou recruit new members, it is important to

invite them to reflect on their family ties.Belonging to the Order must be somethingthat unites, and it is important to have thesupport of your spouse so that it can becomea blessing to the family.”