Following is the text of the appeal issued by Custos of the Holy Land Fr. Francesco Patton to preserve the Holy Land and support its people:

Dear friends, May the Lord give you His peace!

1. The experience of this last year has been truly difficult for all of us who live in the Holy Land. The war on several fronts has not only brought death and destruction but has sown further hatred between neighboring and people who have had brotherly relationships. Many families have been left without work and have struggled to send their children to school as well as to pay for medical care for their loved ones. Many young couples have had to postpone the dream of starting a family and bringing children into the world.

2. We ourselves have struggled to pay the salaries of teachers and those of our local collaborators who help us in the sanctuaries and in our various social works, as well as trying to cope with the increased cost of living precisely because of the war. Nonetheless, thanks to Divine Providence that has manifested itself through the solidarity of Christians from all over the world, we have been able to face the numerous economic commitments, charitable and institutional.

3. However, we feel the need to continue to reach out in the gesture of those who beg for the love of their brothers: support us with prayer; support us by returning to visit the Holy Placed as pilgrims, according to your possibilities; support us also financially, remembering that everything you give, the Lord will return to you a hundredfold.

4. On Good Friday, when the Collection for the Holy Places is made in your dioceses and parishes, remember us and please be generous. Urge your parish priests not to forget us who, by mandate of the Universal Church, take care of the sanctuaries of the Holy Land and of the Christians who live around those sanctuaries. Urge the members of your communities to be generous and to remember what Jesus himself told us: “There is more joy in giving than in receiving.” (Acts 20:35)

5. It will also be thanks to you and your generosity that we will be able to continue to take care of the Holy Places and make them places of prayer, be welcoming to local faithful and pilgrims, set up educational works such as schools, social works such as clinics and dispensaries, homes for the elderly and for young families, works of human promotion such as the reception of migrant workers, displaced persons and refugees.

6. The Good Friday Collection serves to cover a part of these costs, thanks to the generosity of the faithful from all over the world, thanks to your generosity. Please, donate generously and joyfully. Donate according to the breadth of your heart. We will simply be the channel through which your benevolence, your charity and your altruism will pass.

Help us to help others !

Fr. Francesco Patton OFM
Custos of the Holy Land