Scottish Catholic Observer

A CATHOLIC Bishop in Jerusalem has thanked pilgrims from Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need for going ahead with the trip in spite of increased tension in the Holy Land.

Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said the pilgrimage led by Neville Kyrke-Smith, ACN UK national director,  had ‘strengthened’ the local community.

The visit came after Israeli police used stun grenades to disperse the crowds after Muslims tried last Wednesday (November 5) to enter the compound in Jerusalem’s Old City known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount.

A Palestinian man described as a militant was shot dead last week after he rammed his van into pedestrians at a tram stop in Jerusalem’s city centre, killing an Israeli policeman. More than a dozen people were injured during the incident which came amid increased violence and tension in Jerusalem and the West Bank, with scuffles taking place almost daily.

An Israel Defence Forces soldier was stabbed on Monday, November, 10 in an apparent terror attack near the Haganah train station in south Tel Aviv and later died from his wounds.

Speaking to the pilgrims from ACN, the charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, Bishop Shomali said he was especially grateful that they had come, given that other groups had cancelled their trips,” he said, “Thank you for your pilgrimage. We are strengthened by your presence. Such visits make a real difference to us.”

Highlighting the increasingly dark outlook for the region, he said: “We must try to be a bridge between different communities.

“Peace does not seem possible for politicians but for God everything is possible.”

He described how, in an act of solidarity following the violence, bishops had visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is on the Temple Mount.

Describing a visit to areas close to the clashes between Israeli security and Muslim communities trying to enter the Temple Mount, ACN’s Neville Kyrke-Smith referred to the sight of discarded cartridges and the; ‘deadful smell of gas’ left over from the stun grenades.

Speaking from the Holy Land, he said: “There have been a few challenges during the course of the pilgrimage but we are delighted to be here and we want to send out a message that, in spite of the difficulties, the Holy Land is definitely safe for pilgrims.”

Mr Kyrke-Smith did however acknowledge concerns that the conflict could widen.

—www.acnuk.org

Pic: Aid to the Church in Need in the Via Dolorosa, in Jerusalem’s Old City © Aid to the Church in Need