“It is beautiful to note that the Church is not founded primarily on an organization or a human project. It is founded on faith. The true rock is faith in Jesus Christ, which Peter was the first to profess and of which he became the custodian and witness. For this reason, every time we celebrate the feast of Saint Peter, we also celebrate the gift of the unity of the Church. Peter continues to be the visible sign of that communion that Christ desired for His people.”

Thus Fr. Francesco Ielpo, Custos of the Holy Land, underlined in his homily the importance of the feast of Saint Peter celebrated on Saturday, June 27.

In the ancient port city of Jaffa, the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul is celebrated with a very special intensity. Looking out over the Mediterranean from Kedumim Square, the Franciscan Church of Saint Peter, with its ochre facade and high bell tower soaring above the ancient port, is not only a visual reference point for sailors, but a true spiritual lighthouse.

The choice of this shore is not accidental. The Acts of the Apostles tell that right in Jaffa Peter performed the miracle of the resurrection of Tabitha and, on the roof of the house of Simon the Tanner, had the famous vision of the sheet lowered from heaven containing all kinds of animals. A vision that pushed him to open the doors of baptism to pagans, starting with the centurion Cornelius. Jaffa is, to all intents and purposes, the place where the Church understood that it was not a "closed project", but a universal home.

Today's parish of Saint Peter in Jaffa embodies this universality of the Church to the full. The community indeed includes numerous people coming from different countries and cultures: India, the Philippines, Eritrea, and others. On Saturday evening, the faithful gathered in the celebration of their patron Saint. The liturgy was presided over by the Father Custos of the Holy Land, joined by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, and by Fr. Apollinare, guardian of the Franciscan fraternity of Jaffa.