A Croatian deacon who prays in Italian, an Argentinean in Arabic, a Chinese in Latin, a Mexican in Italian, a Russian in Hebrew… you are at a liturgy of the Custody of the Holy Land. The tone of the day is less formal than usual because the Mass is celebrated under a tent on the shores of the Jordan River.
This October 30th, some 700 pilgrims made the annual pilgrimage to the site of Christ’s baptism. Catholicism showed several of its faces with those hundred Christians from Bombay (India), nearly 200 Portuguese, a group of Italians who travel 15 to 20 kilometers per day on foot during their pilgrimage, Spaniards, Belgians, Poles, Koreans, Africans, etc., without forgetting the local Christians from the parishes of Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Cana, Nazareth, and Jerusalem.
All were united in prayer with Joseph Cardinal Zen sbd presiding, assisted by Mgr William Slattery ofm, bishop of Kokstad in South Africa, and the Custodial Vicar, Brother Artemio Vitores, in the presence of representatives from the Consulates General of Belgium, Italy and Spain.
The cardinal began his homily with these words: "I am happy to be here representing the entire Chinese people". 1,400,000,000 souls!!! A population in which Christians are very much a minority: 1,7% or close to 25 million, a number that is still the stuff of dreams. He continued with a brief meditation on Jesus’ baptism.
People who have made the pilgrimage before noticed something new this year: work in progress, conducted by the Israel Ministry of Tourism, to adapt the site to better accommodate pilgrims in this border area under high military surveillance. Nothing remains but to rehabilitate the Jordan itself, to bring back its dignity and the purity of its waters.
Following the Mass, some of the pilgrims went on to the Mount of Temptation, where, after the prayer, the Orthodox monks offered them well-deserved refreshments.
MAB
This October 30th, some 700 pilgrims made the annual pilgrimage to the site of Christ’s baptism. Catholicism showed several of its faces with those hundred Christians from Bombay (India), nearly 200 Portuguese, a group of Italians who travel 15 to 20 kilometers per day on foot during their pilgrimage, Spaniards, Belgians, Poles, Koreans, Africans, etc., without forgetting the local Christians from the parishes of Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Cana, Nazareth, and Jerusalem.
All were united in prayer with Joseph Cardinal Zen sbd presiding, assisted by Mgr William Slattery ofm, bishop of Kokstad in South Africa, and the Custodial Vicar, Brother Artemio Vitores, in the presence of representatives from the Consulates General of Belgium, Italy and Spain.
The cardinal began his homily with these words: "I am happy to be here representing the entire Chinese people". 1,400,000,000 souls!!! A population in which Christians are very much a minority: 1,7% or close to 25 million, a number that is still the stuff of dreams. He continued with a brief meditation on Jesus’ baptism.
People who have made the pilgrimage before noticed something new this year: work in progress, conducted by the Israel Ministry of Tourism, to adapt the site to better accommodate pilgrims in this border area under high military surveillance. Nothing remains but to rehabilitate the Jordan itself, to bring back its dignity and the purity of its waters.
Following the Mass, some of the pilgrims went on to the Mount of Temptation, where, after the prayer, the Orthodox monks offered them well-deserved refreshments.
MAB