Francis on the war in the Holy Land: "In the name of God, enough"."We are in a very serious emergency," says Latin Patriarch of JerusalemFray Manuel belongs to the Custody of the Holy LandThe Order, founded by St. Francis of Assisi, was entrusted by the Holy See to guard the places that witnessed the Incarnation of Christ. Currently, Friar Manuel is at the Sanctuary of Betfagélocated on the Mount of Olives. From this point, Jesus began his journey to Jerusalem before the Passion, mounted on a donkey and surrounded by a cheering crowd with palm branches.
This friar, who has also resided at Nazareth y Beit Sahour (the field of the shepherds to whom the angel appeared, near Bethlehem), affirms that, although the war has "shaken them with unusual force", they see God present in the midst of all the people of different confessions who congregate to pray for peace.
What was your vocation process like, where are you now and what is your work?
Many years ago, after finishing my studies in Hispanic Philology, I was able to put a name to an interior process that I did not know very well what it consisted of and how it developed. After two years I understood that it was possible to follow Jesus in the path of consecrated life, in the Franciscan way, since St. Francis played an essential role in the whole process. I rendered different services in the former Betica OFM Province and after having lived strong interior experiences with groups of pilgrims in the Holy Land, God gave rise to the desire to come to the land where our salvation began and culminated.
After the union of seven Franciscan provinces into the Province of the Immaculate Conception of Spain, I was granted obedience to serve the Custody. I have lived in Nazareth, Beit Sahour and at present I am in Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives, at the Shrine of the Palms, in Bethphage, which brings to mind the place from which Jesus departs, mounted on a donkey, with his disciples and group to Jerusalem to live his passion, death and resurrection.
What is the Custody's mission?
In its pastoral ministry, the Custody of the Holy Land covers various fields of action:
-Shrines and care for pilgrims: the Franciscans are present in 50 shrines, places that recall events of the salvation of our Lord or refer to the apostles or Sacred Scripture; in addition, the stones of the shrines and their permanence over the centuries, guarantee the historical truth of what is remembered and celebrated. The friars welcome a multitude of pilgrims from all over the world, accompanying the groups as spiritual assistants, providing everything necessary for the celebrations, listening, sharing and offering a testimony about the place that favors the strengthening of the faith or its consolidation. In addition, the Custody offers pilgrims places to stay for days, called "Casa Nova": hotels or hostels where they work from another perspective.
-Parishes: the parish ministry of the Custody is carried out in 29 parishes, the most prominent or well known being those of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Yaffo (Jaffa) and Nazareth, with churches in Syria and Lebanon. The Arab parishes are one of the most important activities of the Custody; they were born for the pastoral care of Christians of the Latin rite, a minority in the East, and with the activities of the parishes, the living stones (local Christians) who have kept the faith over the centuries, and feel strengthened and accompanied in their daily pilgrimage.
-Teaching, artistic and intellectual activity: education and culture are other important activities of the Custody, which has 15 schools called "Terra Sancta College" and about 10,000 students in centers in Israel, PalestineJordan, Lebanon and Cyprus. In the schools, coexistence between Muslims and Christians, real dialogue and mutual acceptance are sought from an early age.
This is one of the tasks that contributes most to the search for the path of peace, since, following St. Francis, in the Custody's schools, peace is placed where there is hatred and paths are sought where traces of harmony can be left. The teaching task requires a great effort, because the economic possibilities of Christians are scarce and the Custody welcomes these students free of charge, even in the courses that follow compulsory education. The Custody gives a scholarship to qualified young people so that they can continue their studies at university.
In addition, the Custody has the "Studium Biblicum FranciscanumThe Custody also has the "Muski Center for Christian Oriental Studies" in Jerusalem, which is the Franciscan University, the "Muski Center for Christian Oriental Studies" in Cairo and the "Magnificat" Institute in Jerusalem, which is a conservatory open to Christians, Jews and Muslims; music often brings together people of different faiths and conditions, and the conservatory carries out invaluable work in this field. In the same way, the Custody has a "Christian information center", which offers to the whole world, through the media, the retransmissions of the main events, the news and everything concerning Christian life in the Holy Land.
-The ministry of charity, social work: to support local Christians and other people who come either to Caritas or to its own centers such as homes for the elderly, or the care of children, adolescents and young people from broken homes, as is the case of the "Caritas for the Elderly".Casa del fanciullo"in Bethlehem. The Custody also builds houses for Christians: the most significant example is in the St. Francis neighborhood in Bethphage; in addition, it offers housing with houses, owned by the Custody, in exchange for a symbolic rent, a reality enjoyed by 350 families.
-Pastoral care for migrants: another reality that is found in the territorial scope of the Custody is to care for Catholics from the Philippines, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa who come, particularly women, to Israel for work. In particular, the Parish of St. Anthony of Yaffo (Jaffa) serves a large community of Filipinos, not only with liturgical celebrations, but also by offering space for meetings and activities.
With all these activities, the Custody carries out a quiet and daily work in the search for coexistence and peace.
What is it like to live the faith in the Land of Jesus?
Living the faith in the places that contemplated our salvation implies a great responsibility because, on the one hand, you pass through or visit the sanctuaries that recall an event of Jesus, whether historical or resurrected, and this fact makes you feel privileged, since many Christians would like to have the same experience and cannot; on the other hand, you assume the responsibility of being a witness of what you see before others, always seeking coherence of life and walking in the truth.
The traces left by the Master of Nazareth are intense and it is enough to go to the Holy Sepulcher or to Calvary to relive daily the great love with which we have been loved and to discover the beauty of the Gospel, given that the words continually resound: "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, he is risen" (Lk 24:5-6). This fact makes you a bearer of hope, a messenger of peace and goodness; it urges you to walk with the people and strip yourself of many things in order to console, listen and make credible that the Kingdom is a reality.
To close in on myself, not to be welcoming or not to share the lives of others would go against what I contemplate every day: the stones that remind me of the living stones that make up the Church, in which the Lord continues to teach, heal, encourage and have words of life.
In addition to guarding the Holy Places, the Custody also has an ecumenical role. What steps have been taken with other Christian denominations and what is the current climate?
The Particular Statutes of the Custody of the Holy Land dedicate an entire chapter to ecumenism and relations with other religions. Following the secular tradition of so many Franciscans who, in the Middle East, have worked tirelessly for the encounter and dialogue with the various Christian confessions, the Custody continues its commitment to the search for respect and dialogue with other confessions and their traditions.
Many gestures, small or more significant, are carried out: welcoming other confessions in the sanctuaries and providing the space and the necessary for celebrations and worship (Orthodox and Protestant); organizing concerts, through the Magnificat InstituteThe event, which brings together Jews, Christians and Muslims; Christmas meetings with the patriarchs of the Christian confessions; the signing of joint documents and the making of decisions in the face of adverse circumstances and a host of activities that mark the day-to-day life of this multiform land.
At present, there is a good climate with the other churches, both in the Commission of the ".Status quo"The Custody also participates in the prayer for peace events, which are attended by the faithful as well as by patriarchs and delegates. Finally, the Custody maintains a fluid dialogue with both the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel, for, as one might say, we are in the same boat.
How do you live your vocation in the midst of war?
The war has shaken us with unusual force and has thrown us into the worst of the human race: confrontation, hatred, violence and discord. If Jerusalem is already living in the midst of attacks, raids, surveillance and all the measures one can think of, during this time of war everything has been altered. The culture of hatred and fear leads me to seek peace and understanding with everyone above all else; I know that this is specific to our Franciscan vocation, but these difficult times in the Holy Land make this dimension emerge even more strongly.
In the same way, the war leads me to an exercise of introspection to see what is really valuable and good in my heart, to know my dark areas and to begin a serious exercise of reconciliation with myself. St. Francis said that if there is no peace in your heart, you cannot give peace to others. Likewise, the time of war impels me, with great force, to live something that is only proper to Christianity: the culture of forgiveness. This is not easy, but I am sustained by a phrase of the Benedictine Anselm Grün: "If you accept to forgive yourself, you will forgive".
In the midst of a conflict like the one we are living through, what hopeful testimonies have you experienced? In what situations have you been able to see the hand of God?
For me, the greatest testimonies have come from the prayer meetings for peace in the Holy Land, because you see people of different faiths unite on the basis of the one thing that is our strength: prayer. In my sanctuary of Bethphage, which has a Christian quarter built by the Custody, and which is located in a rather radical Arab area, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays we meet to pray the rosary for peace. It is moving to see Christians, mostly Palestinians, coming together convinced that peace is possible if we are able to remain united in the God of peace and that Mary, Queen of Peace, is our strength.
