Newsletter #2 - Mar-Apr 2006
I. Introduction These last two months the Holy Land was everywhere in the news. With Ariel Sharon's health problems and the Palestinian legislative elections just weeks after that, the media had plenty to talk about in January and February. Yet, the Holy Land cannot be reduced to the pictures of the Hadassa hospital and of the Hamas demonstrating in the streets : life goes on, and in Taybeh too. In this edition, you will find the stories of the most important events that occurred in Taybeh since the beginning of 2006, an analysis of the political situation in Palestine by Fr. Raed, news from the village and its projects as well as news from the French sisters of "La Sainte Croix de Jérusalem" in Taybeh. Enjoy reading ! Guillaume Piganeau II. "La Sainte Croix de Jérusalem" in the Holy Land An anniversary: The "Charles de Foucauld" Pilgrim's center is 20 years old.
"It was on March 16t 1986 in the French General consulate that the reception in honor of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher took place. At their head, as Lieutenant-General, Général Comte d'Harcourt and, as former Lieutenant-General, Général de Chizelle. These important people came to inaugurate in Taybeh a "Charles de Foucauld" Pilgrim's center, for which they have provided the financing.
The center today TODAY in 2006, the French Lieutenancy of the Knights of Saint Sepulcher continue to take care of the "Charles de Foucauld" center. Every group, by its presence, helps developing the center's activity. Les "Ecuyers du Saint Sépulcre" ("Squires of the Holy Sepulcher")of the French Lieutenancy also contribute offering their services. It all forms a chain, everyone contributing to the life of the "Charles de Foucauld" center. Without this help, the center would hardly survive.
Former Lieutenant General, Général de Chizelle, came to Taybeh to celebrate his 100th birthday in 2002. Thanks to his constant financial support, the center has been maintained, repaired, modernised, equipped. Now 104, he still cares about the needs of the center by calling from Paris, and is concerned by all projects about it. The then Lieutenant General, Général Comte d'Harcourt, came back to Taybeh for Christmas in 2004 during a family pilgrimage in the Holy Land.
Mr. Jean Guéguinou, is now "Ambassadeur de France émérite". Fr. John J. Sansour is parish priest in Paphos (Cyprus).
Around the "Charles de Foucauld" center
IN 1998, the current Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, H.B. Michel Sabbah, asked us to take care of the center. The political situation very difficult since 2000 slowed down the development of the center's activity.
Nevertheless, the necessary renovations were undertaken (installation of a kitchen, replacement of all the windows, total renovation of the terracee, restructuring of the bedrooms, increasing of the water-reserves' capacity, installation of a new heating system as well as, etc.) to mention only the biggest.
On top of the management of the center, the community of the sisters of "La Sainte Croix de Jérusalem" develops pedagogical and leisure activities in French during the summer. Tey aim at giving occupation to around a hundred children who participate as well as giving a boost to their French level, studied during the year at school.
Due to the political situation and the difficulties to get authorizations to get out of the Occupied Territories, only a minority of Palestinians from Taybeh can go on holidays out of Palestine during the summer. The youngsters are therefore very willing to participate. To organise these activities, we ask volunteers coming specially from France for the summer to help us out with the animation.
The presence of the French animators provides the framework of these summer sessions as well as offering them to discover a little the oriental culture and the daily life in an Arab Christian village.
Thank you ON THE 20th ANNIVERSARY of the construction of the "Charles de Foucauld" center, in this second "Newsletter" since the creation of Taybeh' "Christ Redeemer" Latin Parish website,
we would like to say a massive thank you for all that has been done and for all that will be done in the future thanks to you as well as for all those who will join the list of our donators for whom we pray daily.
Sr Marie-Martine, Sr Claudine, Sr Martine
"La Sainte Croix de Jérusalem" in the Holy Land. III. Analysis: The Political Situation in Palestine by Fr. RaedA will for change Hamas' victory in the last legislative elections in Palestine is mainly due to a strong will of change from the Palestinian people. The Palestinians thought that the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) under Fatah domination did not do much to find a solution to the conflict, and that after 10 years of Fatah at the helm of the Authority, their daily lives had not improved. The allegations suggesting the P.A. was widely corrupted, affected the credibility of the Fatah even more. In this context, Hamas represented a real alternative for the Palestinians. It is a movement with strong moral principals against corruption, and that does a remarkable social job in helping the poor and the ones in need. Its constant opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestine also gives Hamas a true credibility, as Palestinians feel it will not do too many concessions to Israel and will defend their interests well. Finally the fact that Hamas is a Muslim organisation also played a role in its victory, as Hamas cleverly brought in religion into the campaign. The result of these elections is democracy and we have to accept it as the heads of all Christian Churches in Jerusalem did. In a press release dating from January 31st, they congratulate "the Palestinian people for their democratic performance in the recent parliamentary elections" and express their "respect and support to the will of the people expressed in these elections". Give Hamas a chance Hamas' arrival in the government will not be easy as it was until now only a resistance movement with no parliamentary representation. This will force it to evolve and change its policy if it wants to succeed. My personal conviction is that Hamas can succeed if it is given a chance. But this means that Israel and the international community should agree to discuss with them, which is far from being a given : Hamas, as well as all movements linked to Islam, suffers from a number of prejudices and particularly the one of being considered without even knowing them as a terrorist movement. Yet, by taking a closer look to what their demands are, they do not ask for the impossible. Hamas is indeed ready to sign a "long term" cease fire with Israel, in exchange of Israel's withdrawal of the occupied territories since 1967. This demand, that is also the one of all Palestinians, is legitimate and also logical. There are no reasons to be afraid Finally as Christians, we are not afraid of the perspective of having a government led by Hamas, and not even afraid of cooperating with them, because we know that they respect Christians. What is more, in the present situation, they want to show the best of themselves to the world to win the support of the world. During the events following the publications of the caricatures in Denmark and Europe, for example, the Hamas leader clearly took position against any attack aimed towards Christians. We could also add that Hamas is conscious that the new government they will form is not only supposed to represent their voters but all the Palestinian People. That is why they offered to any political party who would wish so, to participate with them in the government. Finally I will conclude by saying that Hamas is possibly today the only political movement capable of reaching peace with Israel. They have the capacity, which Fatah had not, of controlling the armed groups and factions, and a strong credibility as a resistance movement. A Peace with Israel proposed to the Palestinian people by Hamas would be acceptable to all Palestinians, as they trust Hamas in defending Palestine's interest. Despite the very difficult task that the new government will be facing, and despite all the pressures it is already facing, I think it will be capable of convincing the world. Personally, I would like them to succeed to show the world that a regime inspired by Islam and respectful of all is possible. P. Raed Abusahlia IV. French cardinal Barbarin in Taybeh On February 19th 2006, French Cardinal Barbarin in Taybeh After Cardinal Martini from Milan and Cardinal Antonelli from Florence, H.E. Philippe Barbarin from Lyon, is the third cardinal in as many years to come and meet Taybeh's Christian community.
H.E. Philippe Barbarin presides the Sunday mass at Taybeh's Latin parish on February 19th 2006. He is accompanied by around thirty young priest from the diocese of Lyon (France) during a ten days Pilgrimage in the Holy Land.
After mass, Cardinal Barbarin meets the congregation. Kassam, Jiries and Thaer, the three young guides who offer a visit of Taybeh to pilgrims in French, English and Spanish are introduced by Sr. Marie-Martine.
After an hour of discussion with Fr. Raed and Mr Daoud Khoury the mayor of the village, Cardinal Barbarin and the 30 priests who accompany him, join a group from Soissons (France) -also in Taybeh that day- to have lunch in the "Charles de Foucauld" Pilgrims Center. H.E. Philippe Barbarin during lunch with Mr. Daoud Khoury (on his right) and Fr. Raed (on his left).
At the end of the meal, Fr. Raed gives a "Peace Lamp" to H.E. Philippe Barbarin as a present in order to give an echo to the initiative in the Lyon Diocese (France). V. Visit of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem in Taybeh On Sunday 26th February 2006, H.B. Theophilios III came to visit Taybeh's Greek Orthodox community. The visit of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem was his first to the Greek Orthodox Parish of Taybeh since his nomination in August 2005. He was accompanied during his day in Taybeh by 3 bishops including H.E. Attallah Hanna, the first ever Arab Greek Orthodox bishop, ordained at Christmas.
After Sunday mass, the Patriarch and the three bishops were invited for lunch by Mr. Daoud Khoury, the Orthodox mayor of the village. The three parish priests of Taybeh, Abuna Daoud, Abuna Jack and Abuna Raed as well as Fr. Tawfik Naser were also invited for the meal, thus showing the good relations between the three Christian communities of Taybeh.
The Patriarch then wished to visit Beit Afram, Taybeh's new senior home. He met and discussed with the residents (on the picture, H.B. Theophilios III gives a picture to a resident of Beit Afram) and could even talk with Mother Marie Dominique, the superior of the Notre Dame des Douleurs community in the Holy Land, in French as he studied years ago in Besançon (France). VI. Projects: An "Online orders" service has been launched The www.taybeh.info website has launched an "online orders" service on February 20th 2006. It aims at simplifying orders of Taybeh products for all customers located in Europe by: How does the system work? (Illustrated guide)
1\ On the website, go to the "our products online" page (see picture below).
4\ Once you have completed your choice amongst the available products, click on "Submit my order" on the top left of the page.
8\ Enter the address and contact details of the receiver of the order and Submit (see below).
11\ The following screen appears. You can change the address and contact details if necessary by clicking on "rectify".
14\ A second email will be sent to you indicating the date of expedition of your order as well as the EMS codes of your parcels. We hope this new service will be useful to you, and that it will allow us to promote widely Taybeh's products and projects, as they are vital for the village. VII. Taybeh's parish and the economical development Why does Taybeh's parish get involved so much et the economical level ? The strong implication of the Latin parish, and particularly its parish priest Fr. Raed, at the economical level in the village would have probably struck anyone who has already been to Taybeh. Indeed, the Olive Branch Foundation, created by Fr. Raed enabled during the past three years, the edification of a new olive press for the village, the signature of a contract selling Taybeh's olive oil to Alter Eco, a French fair-trade organisation, the opening of a ceramic workshop, which provides jobs to 15 people, the financing and building of a senior's home in Taybeh. (Not to mention the complete renovation of the parish school, and the development of the medical center etc.) Through the Olive Branch Foundation, it is in total more than 20 jobs that were created by the parish. One legitimate question needs an answer though: is it really Taybeh's parish role, and more generally the Church's role to do all this ? Ask this question to Fr. Raed and his answer will be quite clear:
An action inspired by the miracle of the multiplication of the bread. In Saint Mark's Gospel (6, 35-44), the apostles do not know what they ought to do with the crowd in front of them and tell Jesus he should send the people away so that they can buy food. Jesus replies: "Give them to eat yourselves". And following that, he asks them to : count the breads, make the people sit down, to distribute the breads and finally to collect the rests. Jesus wants his disciple to confront with the issue and to tackle it by giving the crowd to eat and actively participating in the miracle doing what he asks them to do. The Christ could have done the miracle all by himself, without the disciples, and even without the five breads and two fishes, but it seems he wanted a human participation in the miracle. Through the apostles, it is the whole Church that is involved to feed the crowd. And Fr. Raed to add, "what we do today is not more than bringing the five breads and two fishes and we let the Lord do the miracle; and I can assure you the miracle is taking place". The needs of the Christians in the Holy Land and of Taybeh particularly are different to those of the crowd of the Bible, but according to Fr. Raed, it is important that the Church does all it possibly can to provide to those needs. And the most urgent need for the Christians in the Holy Land presently is to earn their lives in dignity thanks to their work and thus not being forced to emigrate. Since his arrival in Taybeh, Fr. Raed tries to help the economical development of Taybeh with a permanent preoccupation to create jobs for those who need it the most and help the people to earn their lives with dignity in order not to be dependent from charity of the other Churches around the world. This effort also has another positive effect as these projects, which all aim at making profit on the long run, will provide financing for the parish's charities in the future. VIII. Culture: Outing of Taybeh's Children Choir in Galilee On January 7th 2006, the children of Taybeh's Latin parish choir went on an outing to Galilee. Accompanied by Sister Victoire (who conducts Taybeh's choir), by Abu Johnny (the music teacher at the school) and by several other young adults including Marco Basir the organist of the parish, the 80 children were to meet at 6:30 am to get into the 2 busses rented for the day. The First visit on the program was the reconstituted village as in the time of Jesus at Nazareth's YMCA. A small museum briefly explains the living conditions at the time before entering the reconstitution itself. With the visit of Mary's home, the explanation by Joseph himself (!!) of the carpenter's job, the visit of the Synagogue and the olive-press as well as a discussion with shepherds, the reconstitution was bound to delight the children. The weather also helped as it was sunny during the visit though a little chilly.
After the visit, the two busses headed straight to the basilica of the Annunciation. Completely rebuilt in the early sixties, the basilica is the biggest Christian church in the Middle East. In the Annunciation Grotto, around thirty children directed by Sr. Victoire took the time to sing a prayer for the Virgin Mary, to the delight of the other pilgrims inside the Basilica. Heavy rains meant the free-time in Nazareth did not happen, and the busses drove straight to the Mount of Beatitude just beside the Galilean Sea. The clouds did not let the children see much of the sea at their arrival, but little by little the sun came back and the children did appreciate the place admiring the magnificent view whilst eating ice-creams!! In Tiberias, a boat tour on the lake had been booked. The boat though, soon transformed itself into a dance floor, as some of the children had brought their favorites CDs with them. The boys however were much reticent to expose their dancing skills than the girls. The children were given one last free-time on the shored of the lake before returning to Taybeh. Back in Taybeh at around 21:30pm, the children were exhausted but nonetheless very happy of their day. IX. Document: The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem's message for Lent LATIN PATRIARCHATE - JERUSALEM 1. Lent begins today. It is a time of prayer, penance and fasting. Like Jesus, we go into the desert to be more intensely in the presence of God, in order to adore, contemplate, and better accept the abundant life that God grants us at all times. The Sunday gospels during Lent this year invite us to meditate on the temptation, the transfiguration, the money changers in the temple, the fact that "God so loved the world," and the ascent of Jesus to Jerusalem before his Passion. In meditating on God's word in these gospels, we note that our life is a constant struggle to continue on our journey in God's presence. The struggle involves making every moment of our lives moments of grace and transfiguration, moments in which we constantly purify the temple of our heart in order to become more aware of God's love for us and to make of our life an ongoing ascent to Jerusalem where we can share in the sacrifice that saved us all, and where, in turn, we can extend our and to everyone, open our heart to all, and announce God's salvation and resurrection. 2. The Holy Father, in his Lenten message this year, chose to speak about the poor and development. He reminds us of "the cry of the multitudes longing for joy, peace and love." He reminds us of the human realities marked by "the desolation of misery, loneliness, violence and hunger that indiscriminately afflict children, adults, and the elderly." To help us cope with this evil, he reminds us that "God does not allow darkness to prevail." Quoting Jean-Paul II, he says: "there is a divine limit imposed upon evil, namely mercy," and with mercy, the capacity to love and do the good that God placed in the heart of each of us. Moreover, his first encyclical was dedicated to the various aspects of love both in the intimate life that unites an individual to God and to neighbor, and in society where love expresses itself by actions and development projects. 3. Our situation here in Jerusalem and in the entire region is part of the Pope's message when he speaks of fear, anxiety, insecurity, and a search for justice, peace and reconciliation which remain a distant mirage. The Palestinian elections brought forth new leaders who are assuming responsibility for our destiny. We await the Israeli elections to see who will be responsible for our fate. In this context, Lent reminds us that, as we walk in the presence of God, we are walking with all other human beings, whoever they might be. On their faces, we see God's image. With all of them, we share the joys and sufferings of life and continue to build our society, as we become more and more aware of the capacity for good and for love that God has placed in each of us. For that reason, Christians must not weaken and must not be afraid. There are many poor among us who are in difficult situations. Present realities deprive them of freedom and of adequate means for managing their daily life. They do not succeed in renewing their faith and their hope through a real communion with their parish. 4. The purpose of our Lenten message is to focus attention on the role of charity in our life as a Church. It is true that we are a poor Church that receives from others, but we must remember that we also have the capacity to love and therefore to give. Our Caritas - Jerusalem is an organization that receives. It should also become the Caritas of a Church of Jerusalem that knows how to organize the charity of its own believers, rich and poor alike, so that they too can learn how to give. A re-education is needed to teach Christians in the Holy Land, even when they are living in need and in poverty, how to recognize and live the richness of the communion that existed in the first Church of Jerusalem: "The community of believers was of one heart and one mind. None of them ever claimed anything as his own; rather, everything was held in common.. Nor was there anyone needy among them" (Acts 4, 32.34). Christians must overcome their individualism and look beyond themselves, their family and their relatives to embrace the entire parish, and even all of society. Those among us who say that they already give to charity must go further and learn to give more, to live communion, and to "grow and grow up together" with all of one's brothers and sisters, so that no one in the community is left wanting, alone, or suffering from discrimination. 5. Some ask: how should we fast? Should we follow custom or the Church's new legislation? We must follow both custom and the law. But we must first understand the purpose of fasting, which is to turn us back to God, to make more place for God in our lives, and, with him, to build our community. When God is present, when he is with us, there is no reason to remain perplexed, to be afraid, or to complain. Saying that God is with us means filling ourselves with his Spirit, with his strength, and with his love. It means facing all of the everyday realities in both our private and public lives. Our love for everyone without distinction will keep us from transforming our faith and our life of communion with our community into denominationalism, or religious individualism, or aggressive fanaticism. "Make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit," says Ezekiel (18, 31). We must strive for this. We must renew ourselves in spirit in order to become ever-more capable of accepting the life God wants to give us all. May the Virgin Mary accompany our fasting and our prayer and teach us to transform all of our life into a communion of divine life really lived with our parish, and into a love that opens us onto all of our society. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. + Michel Sabbah, Patriarch X. Event: Welcome of Jesus in Taybeh Ceremony on March 12th Every year, during the first Sunday of Lent and in the presence of a personality, a special ceremony to "welcome Jesus" takes place in Taybeh. It is indeed several weeks before his passion that the Christ came to Taybeh with his disciples. The first Sunday of Lent, according to tradition, corresponds to the date when Jesus arrived in Taybeh-Ephraïm before going to Jerusalem. (Jn. 11, 54)
On March 12th, it will be Mgr. Fouad Twal, former archbishop of Tunis and recently named auxiliary bishop of the latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and successor of H.B. Michel Sabbah by the Pope, who will come to Taybeh to "welcome Jesus" and bless the icon representing the Christ. The tradition of this feast is that after the blessing the icon goes from family to family, with evangelical prayers organised every evening in a different home, before heading back to Jerusalem for Easter, following Jesus' path. Because of the agreement between the three Christian communities in Taybeh, that aims at uniting the village for religious feats, Easter will be celebrated according to the oriental calendar. This explains why the first Sunday of Lent for the roman catholic community in Taybeh will occur on March 12th, a week later than the roman calendar. XI. Contacts
Latin Parish Taybeh:
Reservations in the Charles de Foucauld pilgrim's hostel:
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