On Monday, May 13, 2024, Our Lady of Fatima feast day, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, presided at a Holy Mass at the Annunciation Church in Beit Jala. Celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, and 30 years since the first missionary, Fr. Marcelo Gallardo, IVE, was sent to serve the people of the Holy Land.

Concelebrating was the former Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, Mgr. Bolous-Marcuzzo, Bishop Emeritus, H.E. Msgr. Yacoub Ephrem Semaan, Syro-Catholic Patriarchal Exarch of Jerusalem, Mgr. Natale, as well as several priests of the Institute of the Incarnate Word. Among the assembly were many priests, religious sisters, and the faithful, who came to express their gratitude for the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word in the Diocese.

Fr. Carlos Miguel Buela, the founder, has expressed the Institute’s mission in loving, serving, and belonging to the Mother Church. He even urged every consecrated Man and Woman to make a pilgrim to the Holy Land, at least once in their life, to visit the Empty Tomb, the foundation of our Christian faith. The Institute of the Incarnate Word first came to the Holy Land at the invitation of the former patriarch Michel Sabbah. And they were supported throughout the years by all the Latin patriarchs who followed him. Currently, the priests and sisters of the Incarnate Word, serve at various Latin Parishes in Palestine and Jordan, as well as several elderly homes, and houses that care for severely disabled children and adults.

In his homily, His Beatitude Cardinal Pizzaballa praised the great role that the Institute plays in the Middle East, “you derive your spirituality from the mystery of the Incarnation, and you work in the Holy Land to incarnate in difficult places, the presence of God among his people.” He also highlighted their active cooperation with the clergy of the Holy Land and their participation in all pastoral and spiritual activities. Ending with a prayer of courage and steadfastness for Fr. Yousef, IVE, vicar priest in the parish of Gaza, and for all the sisters of the Incarnate Word, who are currently enduring many difficulties due to the war, imploring the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima.