The Bishops’ Conference of Chile was in the Holy Land from 15th to 21st November for spiritual exercises before their Roman visit ad limina Apostolorum.
The bishops included H.E. Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, Archbishop of Santiago and the Chairman of the Chilean Bishops’ Conference, H.E. Very Rev. Mons. Alejandro Goic Karmelic.
The bishops met the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on 20th November in the Sanctuary of the Beatitudes. Their meeting lasted an hour and a half. The Bishops’ Conference inquired after the situation of the Custody in detail with the aim of a greater involvement by the Chilean Church in favour of the initiatives of the Holy Land. Of note is that according to the latest research, in Chile there are at least 400,000 Palestinians who have emigrated from Bethlehem, Beit Jala and the surrounding areas, increasing the post-1948 immigration. In Chile, this choice of the bishops aroused great interest by the mass media and all the population, as it involves two communities in Chile which are very much alive, the Palestinians and to a lesser extent, the Jewish community.
Obviously the bishops’ approach to this visit was totally religious.
Fr. Sergio Olmedo ofm
The bishops included H.E. Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, Archbishop of Santiago and the Chairman of the Chilean Bishops’ Conference, H.E. Very Rev. Mons. Alejandro Goic Karmelic.
The bishops met the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on 20th November in the Sanctuary of the Beatitudes. Their meeting lasted an hour and a half. The Bishops’ Conference inquired after the situation of the Custody in detail with the aim of a greater involvement by the Chilean Church in favour of the initiatives of the Holy Land. Of note is that according to the latest research, in Chile there are at least 400,000 Palestinians who have emigrated from Bethlehem, Beit Jala and the surrounding areas, increasing the post-1948 immigration. In Chile, this choice of the bishops aroused great interest by the mass media and all the population, as it involves two communities in Chile which are very much alive, the Palestinians and to a lesser extent, the Jewish community.
Obviously the bishops’ approach to this visit was totally religious.
Fr. Sergio Olmedo ofm