“The time of my departure is at hand… I have finished the race; I have kept the faith” (2Tm 4,7). This is the Biblical quotation that His Beatitude Mons. Michel Sabbah has chosen for his last pastoral letter.
Mons. Sabbah will be 75 on 19th March.
This is the age of retirement for bishops. Mons. Sabbah will no longer be the Patriarch of Jerusalem in office until his resignation is accepted by the Holy See. He will be succeeded by Mons. Twal, who has been his coadjutor for more than two years.
“I am addressing this last letter to you to thank God and express my gratitude towards you all.”
Mons. Sabbah ends twenty years of service to the Church of Jerusalem and in this letter goes back over the important times that have passed. It is genuinely a pastoral letter. It covers the various aspects of Christian life in this diocese which is so different from others.
But the man Michel Sabbah disappears in front of the Patriarch who addresses his pastoral wishes. Mons. Sabbah has nevertheless stated that he will remain in Jerusalem, at the service of the Patriarchate.
Mons. Sabbah will celebrate the Easter solemnities in Jerusalem.
On Saturday 29th March, he will make a solemn entrance into the Basilica of Nazareth for the Feast of the Annunciation, postponed due to the Easter solemnities. He will celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation on Sunday 30th March in the same Basilica.
MAB
Mons. Sabbah will be 75 on 19th March.
This is the age of retirement for bishops. Mons. Sabbah will no longer be the Patriarch of Jerusalem in office until his resignation is accepted by the Holy See. He will be succeeded by Mons. Twal, who has been his coadjutor for more than two years.
“I am addressing this last letter to you to thank God and express my gratitude towards you all.”
Mons. Sabbah ends twenty years of service to the Church of Jerusalem and in this letter goes back over the important times that have passed. It is genuinely a pastoral letter. It covers the various aspects of Christian life in this diocese which is so different from others.
But the man Michel Sabbah disappears in front of the Patriarch who addresses his pastoral wishes. Mons. Sabbah has nevertheless stated that he will remain in Jerusalem, at the service of the Patriarchate.
Mons. Sabbah will celebrate the Easter solemnities in Jerusalem.
On Saturday 29th March, he will make a solemn entrance into the Basilica of Nazareth for the Feast of the Annunciation, postponed due to the Easter solemnities. He will celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation on Sunday 30th March in the same Basilica.
MAB