Vatican, Feb. 15, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches has appealed to Catholics throughout the world to support the Christians of the Holy Land.
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri has written to all of the world's Catholic bishops, asking them to demonstrate solidarity with an embattled Christian minority by backing the annual Good Friday collection for the Church in the Holy Land. The cardinal said that he was making this appeal on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news).
The Christians of the Holy Land, Cardinal Sandri said in his letter, "are a priority of the entire Catholic Church." Thus the Good Friday collection has a "special relevance," he said. He urged every Church to participate in the effort.
The continued conflict between Israel and Palestine aggravates existing problems that face the Christians of the region, the cardinal wrote. Facing significant obstacles at home, many of Christians living in the Holy Land-- especially the young and educated-- are leaving their homeland, and thus the remaining Christian community is "deprive of their most important human resources."
"We must seek to safeguard Christianity's historic legacy," Cardinal Sandri wrote, by ensuring the survival of the Christian presence in the land where Jesus lived. He encouraged Catholics to offer generous support to the Good Friday collection, helping the Christians of the Holy Land to see a hopeful future. The purpose of this gesture of solidarity, he said, is "to equip the younger generations to take their place in society in a manner which renders them competent and able to transmit the worth of their Catholic education and formation."
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