Our people in the Holy Land is living gloomy days during which the dream of peace which seemed very close, is now vanishing away. Violence, retaliation, fear, death, unemployment, the end of the peace process summarize our situation today. The absence of pilgrims rendered our Holy shrines empty and sad. Many of our young people were working in the pilgrimage and tourism sector. Besides, the difficulty in moving between Palestinian cities and the closure of the Palestinian Territories rendered the economical situation very bad.

We pray the Lord that the mediation of our brothers and sisters christians all over the world will be more efficient in the future. Otherwise, the Holy Land, the Christian Community and our Catholic institutions will deeply suffer. Thousands of families do not have enough resources to cope with the requirements of human dignity. 

In the last months, we felt the strong solidarity of our sister churches through their   statements and clear positions concerning Jerusalem and the peace process. It was felt during the Holy Father’s visit to the Holy Land for which you contributed with a special collection. Therefore, we appeal to your Country, wishing that your Government exerts an efficient and balanced role in the settlement of the Palestinian problem. We appeal also to your Communities on behalf of the bereaved and needy families, the wounded, the homeless, the  Catholic Schools of the Latin Patriarchate and Bethlehem University which are struggling to keep upon.

We thank you for whatever you can do to alleviate suffering and to reestablish a just and lasting peace. We rely on your prayers, so that the forthcoming Christmas 2000, will be a joyful celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord, the Prince of peace, and the threshold to a new era of peace and reconciliation among the two peoples and the three religions living in the Holy Land.
 

With sentiments of gratitude and prayerful best wishes,
 

    Sincerely yours in Christ,

    +Michel Sabbah,
    Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem