This year, in addition to the solemnity of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, celebrated on 6 August on Mount Tabor, there is an important celebration for the inauguration of the Jubilee of the centenary of the Basilica, completed in 1924 by the architect Antonio Barluzzi on the site of the Benedictine monastery from the time of the Crusades. The special anniversary, which coincides with that of the Basilica of the Nations on the slopes of the Mount of Olives in […]
Once again this year, the shrine of St John in the Mountain in Ain Karem opened its doors to the local citizens for a meeting to study the historical, religious and cultural aspects of this place. According to tradition, Ain Karem is the birthplace of John the Baptist, in agreement with the gospels that situate the house of Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin, here. Today this area is part of the outskirts of the city of Jerusalem and […]
On 22 April, the Custos of the Holy Land, fra Francesco Patton, went to Isfiya, on Mount Carmel, invited by the youngsters of the “Marian Movement in the Holy Land, an association which started in the Maronite Church. Here, he met the young people and celebrated Mass in the church dedicated to St Charbel Makhluf, a Lebanese monk and one of the best known saints in the Maronite Church. The date is significant: on the 22nd of each month, the […]
It already promises to be the first step on a path that cannot stop. The meeting dedicated to the "Mediterranean frontier of peace" brought together for three days 58 bishops and patriarchs of 20 countries to discuss the main challenges of the Mediterranean basin - peace, migration, dialogue -, challenges that must be faced together. Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "All churches, therefore, from an ecumenical perspective, must be able to speak with one voice and […]