The Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) which gathers 33 European Bishops’ Conferences paid a visit to Gaza on Sunday, January 14.

The Council is represented by their Presidents, plus the Archbishops of Luxembourg, of the Principality of Monaco, the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus and the Bishop of Chişinău (Moldova Rep.), the Eparchial Bishop of Mukachevo and the Apostolic Administrator of Estonia.The current President is Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa; the Vice-Presidents are Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of of Westminster, and Mgr Stanisław Gądecki, Archbishop of Poznań. The CCEE General Secretary is Mgr Duarte da Cunha. The Secretariat is based at St Gallen (Switzerland).

This year the Holy Land Co-ordination decided celebrated Sunday Mass on January 14 with the small Christian community in Gaza, followed by a visit to the House of Peace run by the Missionaries of Charity; a brief meeting with young Christians and a comforting visit to the sick in the community.

The Holy Land Co-ordination annual meeting of European, North American and South African Bishops has been undertaking an annual visit to the various Christian communities present in the Holy Land since the 1990s.

A common thread running throughout the visit is this year’s theme of education, with a series of meetings and visits of an educational nature in order to understand the importance education of young people has in the realisation of a future of peace in the region. The bishops will meet with the Parents Circle - Families Forum, a body which brings together more than 600 Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost a relation due to the prolonged conflict and who today, through various initiatives, support peace, reconciliation and tolerance.

In Beit Jala, Fr Iyad Twal will give a presentation on the activity of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in promoting an education which aims at being an instrument of peace and justice, and this will be followed by a series of visits to Christian schools administered directly by the Latin Patriarchate.

In Emmaus-Qubeibeh, the bishops will visit a home for the elderly and will meet some young volunteers working there. Br Peter Bray, Vice-Rector of the University of Bethlehem, will present the Qubeibeh Nursing Programme a programme which offers prospects and work opportunities for young people in a largely rural area, with high levels of unemployment and many social and political problems.

Accompanying the European bishops and representing the Council of European Episcopal Conferences will be Mgr Duarte da Cunha, CCEE General Secretary.

The meeting is organised by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales with the support of CCEE.
The following bishops are taking part in the Holy Land Co-ordination:
His Lordship Mgr Declan Lang (Clifton, England and Wales – Co-ordinator)
His Lordship Mgr Lionel Gendron (Saint-Jean Longueuil, Canada)
His Lordship Mgr Udo Bentz (Mainz, Germany)
His Grace Mgr Riccardo Fontana (Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro, Italy)
His Lordship Mgr Donal McKeown (Derry, Ireland)
His Lordship Mgr Pierre Bürcher (Iceland)
His Lordship Mgr José Ornela Carvalho (Setubal, Portugal)
His Lordship Mgr William Kenney (Birmingham, England and Wales)
His Lordship Mgr Nicholas Hudson (Westminster, England and Wales)
The Right Reverend Christopher Chessun (Church of England, United Kingdom)
His Lordship Mgr William Nolan (Galloway, Scotland)
His Grace Mgr Joan-Enric Vives Sicilia (Urgell, Spain)
His Grace Mgr Stephen Brislin (Cape Town, South Africa)
His Lordship Mgr Dr. Felix Gmür (Basel, Switzerland)
His Lordship Mgr Oscar Cantu (La Cruces, USA)

Please click the link on the visit of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences to Gaza:
https://youtu.be/NDKhZ94MIk8