[ENS] With an invitation to "come and see for yourself," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori concluded her March 16-24 pastoral visit to the Holy Land recognizing the need for people worldwide to understand the plight of Palestinian Christians -- "their shrinking numbers, the conditions under which they live and work, and the potential that we have not only to advocate for them but to stand in solidarity with them."
The Presiding Bishop's visit, which came at the invitation of Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani, was intended to deepen the partnerships between the U.S.-based Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.
But the days also afforded Jefferts Schori and an Episcopal Church delegation the opportunity to visit Gaza, engage Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations, meet with local ecumenical and interreligious leaders, and to share in the Paschal mystery of Holy Week in services at St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem.
The delegation -- which included Bishop Christopher Epting, ecumenical and interfaith officer; Maureen Shea, director of government relations; and the Presiding Bishop's husband, Richard Schori -- visited Gaza on March 19 to gain a deeper understanding of the humanitarian crisis that is impacting 1.5 million Palestinians in the world's most densely populated region, and experience the ministry of the Al Ahli Arab Hospital, one of the diocese's oldest institutions. (Story available here).
Israeli officials have said that a blockade of Gaza, enforced since January 17, has been necessary to put pressure on militant Palestinians to stop firing rockets into southern Israel. But regular power cuts, food and water shortages, lack of fuel, and counter-attacks from the Israelis are placing immense pressure on the local population.
Reflecting on her experiences, Jefferts Schori said it is essential for Christians around the world to "recognize that among us are people who live in conditions that seem like a Second World War ghetto, as prisoners in their own land, as people whose millennia-old property has been confiscated, as people who suffer enormous indignities and injustices every day, and yet are living here as suffering servants."
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