Three new priests for the Latin Patriarchate: Hope is renewed in the Church of the Holy Land

This summer has witnessed great joy for the Latin Patriarchate and its Seminary of the Latin Patriarchate in Beit Jala, as priestly ordinations have resumed after a three-year hiatus, which has been a long-awaited joy for the Church in the Holy Land.

This year, the Latin Patriarchate celebrated the ordination of three new priests which started in the Jordanian capital, Amman, where Fr. Malek Qalanzeh and Fr. Fadi Qandah were ordained to serve the Church. This joy coincided as well with the ordination of Fr. Jiries Abu Khalil at the Holy Family Parish in Ramallah.

This joy also coincided with the ordination of ten new priests for the Franciscan Order in Jerusalem. Furthermore, weeks earlier, four new priests had also been ordained at the Mater Redemptoris Seminary of the Neocatechumenal Way in Galilee. These ordinations are signs of hope, which affirms that the Lord continues to call laborers into His harvest.

However, these priestly ordinations of the Latin Patriarchate hold a distinctive significance because they emerge from the heart of the Arab Christian community in Jordan and Palestine and represent a living continuation of the Church of this land, the land where the first proclamation of the Gospel was born and which continues to offer its sons in the service of the Gospel.

 These ordinations testify that priestly vocations have not diminished, and that the Lord continues to sow the seeds of His call in the hearts of our young people. At the same time, the need remains great for more local priestly and religious vocations so that the Church may continue her mission of serving the faithful and bearing witness to Christ in His Holy Land.

We pray that this joyful occasion may recur every year, and that the Lord's call may find attentive ears and generous hearts among the young men and women of our parishes, so that they may joyfully respond in the service of the Church.

Congratulations to the Latin Patriarchate, to its Latin Patriarchate Seminary in Beit Jala, and to all our parishes for this new lifeblood being poured into the Body of the Church and convey the message of the Gospel to our cities and villages, while bearing witness to the authenticity of the Christian faith and its deep roots in this blessed land.