A few days after Christmas, on the morning of 27 December, the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land received their brothers of the Oriental Churches in the Chapter Hall of St. Savior’s convent for the traditional exchange of greetings.

War and hope

The topics of common reflection include: the second Christmas of war, the commitment to peace, the canonization of the martyrs of Damascus and the recent events in Syria, but also the Jubilee on hope and the fraternal relations between the different Churches.

“For us this Christmas has a special flavor and meaning, because it is a Jubilee year. We have started the Jubilee of hope and we will also be celebrating the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea: the great Ecumenical Council which is one of the milestones of our unity in the faith,” the Custos of the Holy Land, Fra Francesco Patton emphasized in his opening greeting to the delegation of the Greek Orthodox Church, led by its Patriarch, Theophilos III.

The Custos and the Patriarch Theophilos together stressed the appeal for “the weapons to be silent” in the Middle East and the common wish to support the Christian presence in Gaza – in the Latin parish of the Holy Family and in the Orthodox church of St. Porphyrius.

“Although in the midst of difficulties,” the Patriarch Theophilos said, “we remain firm in the hope that the mystery of the incarnation of the Divine Word brings to the world. We are convinced that peace can be reached, because Jesus Christ, who has just been born, is the Prince of Peace.”

The two religious representatives were also pleased for the strengthening of the bonds between the two communities, “which each year become stronger and more fraternal.” The collaboration on the restoration at the Holy Sepulcher and, soon, the work in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, has been and will be an opportunity for further steps along this path.

The joy of Christmas

The welcome of the Orthodox communities of the Syriacs and the Copts, that of the Ethiopians as well as the meeting with the Melkite community at the Greek Catholic Patriarchate, were the occasion to reflect on the joy of the Christmas message, which lightens up darkness in difficult times.

“Welcoming the Child of Bethlehem, we welcome the real source of our joy, of our peace and our fraternal communion,” the Custos emphasized.

At all the encounters, this joy was underscored by the Christmas carols of the Latin tradition performed by the cantor friars of the Custody.

“We need the Light to shine everywhere, from the grotto of Bethlehem, to keep alive the hope of a new world, saved thanks to the birth of this Child: Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us,” Fra Patton said once again.

The friars of the Custody were then welcomed at the Greek Catholic Patriarchate. Receiving them, the Melkite archbishop Yasser Al Ayyash emphasized how “the words ‘joy’ and ‘peace’ often return in our prayers at Christmas time. Let us pray to the Child Jesus to give us this peace and this joy, that they can come only from him.” This was followed by a brief moment in the church of the Greek Catholic Patriarchate, with the singing of the hymn “Alma Redemptoris Mater” and the blessing received from the Melkite archbishop.

New words for a new world

In the afternoon, the Custos and the Franciscan community of St Saviour received the delegation of the Latin Patriarchate, led by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa. This was followed by the exchange of greetings with a group of lecturers and students of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. 

“We have gone through a year in which words seemed to be words not of creation, but of destruction. Hatred, rancour, contempt, mistrust… At Christmas we want to reassert the word of God par excellence, the Word that became flesh, which announces the start of a new creation, a new way of being in the world and also being  here, inside this conflict. “We need to talk to Him, to look at Him through his Son Jesus and begin again from Him and with Him.”

These words echoed those of the Custos, who dwelled on the importance of the Jubilee year in the Holy Land as well: “We hope that we can really renew hope, see prisoners and hostages released, people reconciles and allow this land which is now soaked in blood rest. With Abraham and with Paul we have to learn to hope against every apparent failure of hope. The  mystery of Christmas itself actually reveals to us that the hope is all in a Child in whom the fullness of divinity lives in his body.”

After exchanging greetings, the Patriarch visited the elderly friars in the infirmary of the Custody, to take his Christmas greetings to them as well.