Pope Francis receives in audience the members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and praises them for their spiritual and charitable initiatives for the people of the Holy Land: “You too contribute to the achievement of peace in the region”.

There lies, “before the whole world”, the dramatic situation of Christians “who are being persecuted and killed in ever increasing numbers”. But this same world “too often looks the other way” in the face of this tragedy. The complaint came from Pope Francis during the audience with the members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a body that for years has been carrying out many spiritual and charitable activities for the benefit of the people of the Holy Land. From Tuesday, November 13 until today, knights and dames have gathered in Rome for the work of the Council that takes place every five years. Since the last Council of 2013, the Order, the Pope observed, “has increased the number of its members, has geographically expanded with the creation of new peripheral branches, has enlarged its material assistance to the Church in the Holy Land and in the number of pilgrimages made by your members”.

Exhorting constant prayer for the faithful in difficulty, Francis, in his speech, then spoke of “white martyrdom”, which goes hand in hand with “martyrdom of blood” and which occurs for example “in democratic countries when freedom of religion is restricted”.

The Pontiff therefore points out the ways of dialogue and “mutual respect” to build peace. He thanked the Order of the Holy Sepulchre “for its support of pastoral and cultural programmes” and encouraged it to continue working side by side with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem “to deal with the refugee crisis which in the last five years has led the Church to provide a significant humanitarian response throughout the region”.

“It is a good sign - the Pope commented - that your initiatives in the field of training and health care are open to all, regardless of the communities to which they belong and the religion professed. In this way, you help to pave the way for the knowledge of Christian values, the promotion of interreligious dialogue, mutual respect and mutual understanding”.

It is a “meritorious commitment”, the Pontiff underlined, through which “you too give your contribution to the construction of that path which will lead, we all hope, to the attainment of peace in the whole region”.

Hence a reflection on the “mission in the world” of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher: “Do not forget - warned the Pope - that you are not a philanthropic institution committed to promoting the material and social improvement of the recipients. You are called to place evangelical love for your neighbor at the centre and as the final goal of your works, to bear witness everywhere to the goodness and care with which God loves everyone”.

“Admission to your Order of Bishops, Priests and Deacons is in no way a decoration,” Pope Francis added. “It is part of their pastoral service tasks to assist those of you who have a responsible role in providing opportunities for community and liturgical prayer at every level, ongoing spiritual and catechetical opportunities for ongoing formation and for the growth of all the components of the Order.

At the end of the audience, Bergoglio recommended associating the material aid given to the suffering populations with the unceasing prayer to Our Lady, venerated by the Order with the title of “Our Lady of Palestine”: “She is the caring Mother and the support of Christians, for whom she obtains from the Lord strength and comfort in pain”.

The Pope then blessed the icon of “Our Lady of the Persecuted Christians”, which the knights will bring to each of their Lieutenants: “Let us invoke together – he prayed - Mary’s concern for the Church in the Holy Land and, more generally, in the Middle East, together with her special intercession for those whose lives and freedoms are in danger”.