Bethlehem’s festive lighting engineers have been working for 26 days and have decorated half of Star Street. Their labour is a true act of Christmas charity: they have not been paid for four months because of the Western freeze on Palestinian aid after Hamas’s election victory this year. But it will take more than the 8,000 metres of cable being strung up by Samaan Shaheen, a Christian city engineer, and his Muslim colleague Khalil to cheer up the birthplace of Christianity.
British church leaders will arrive in Bethlehem to offer some support to the troubled city today. Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Cormac Murphy- O’Connor, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, the Rev David Coffey, the Moderator of the Free Churches, and Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian, Primate of the Armenian Church of Great Britain, will make the long walk from the Israeli Jerusalem-Bethlehem checkpoint to Manger Square. Their visit was welcomed by Archbishop Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who said that it was a reminder “to us, to the Israelis and the Palestinians, and to the world, that the pilgrims’ path of hope and love must remain open”. In his Christmas message Archbishop Sabbah said: “Bethlehem is meant to be the city of peace. Unfortunately, it is now just the contrary — a city of conflict and death.” PLEASE READ MORE
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2513316,00.html
Please also see:
Journey to Bethlehem
http://gifts.hcef.org/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=1000&Category_Code=Journey
The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation http://www.hcef.org
Al-Bushra http://www.al-bushra.org and in our Links section.
British church leaders will arrive in Bethlehem to offer some support to the troubled city today. Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Cormac Murphy- O’Connor, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, the Rev David Coffey, the Moderator of the Free Churches, and Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian, Primate of the Armenian Church of Great Britain, will make the long walk from the Israeli Jerusalem-Bethlehem checkpoint to Manger Square. Their visit was welcomed by Archbishop Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who said that it was a reminder “to us, to the Israelis and the Palestinians, and to the world, that the pilgrims’ path of hope and love must remain open”. In his Christmas message Archbishop Sabbah said: “Bethlehem is meant to be the city of peace. Unfortunately, it is now just the contrary — a city of conflict and death.” PLEASE READ MORE
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2513316,00.html
Please also see:
Journey to Bethlehem
http://gifts.hcef.org/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=1000&Category_Code=Journey
The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation http://www.hcef.org
Al-Bushra http://www.al-bushra.org and in our Links section.