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The Holy Land Co-ordination of Episcopal Conferences in support of the Church of the Holy Land, the Holy Land Co-ordination, took place in and around Jerusalem from 17-21 January. The theme for the visit, inspired by the Church’s recent Jubilee Year, was: A Land of Promise: Encounter and Dialogue with People of Hope.

The Holy Land Co-ordination is a pastoral and ecclesial gathering, rooted in prayer, reflection, and attentive listening to the Christian communities and peoples of the Holy Land.

Bishop Jim Curry, Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Bishops’ Conference, offered his reflections on Tuesday, as the pilgrimage passed its halfway point:

“What we’re discovering is that Israel and Palestine – because of the 7 October attack, the war in Gaza, and the encroachment in the West Bank – are in a state of absolute shock and trauma. Communities have been paralysed. Conversations have stopped. And yet there are still small seeds of hope because communities and individuals are trying to reach out to each other, to re-engage with each other, to begin a process of healing – not ignoring what’s happened, seeking just solutions, seeking to embody the legitimate rights, both of Israel to security and safety, but also security and safety for the Palestinian people. 

“Because if those two peoples don’t have a mutual assurance of safety and respect, then the imbalance between them seems to promise yet more unease, more destructive behaviour, more a deterioration in the civic structure of this promised land.”

Solutions are in short supply, positions are entrenched, but Bishop Curry does recognise what true hope looks like:

"The people we’ve met have shown a bravery, a faithfulness, a commitment to peace that is humbling. And the challenge they’ve given us is how can we be part of that peace? Hope is how we live. Hope is the choices we make. Hope is the way we treat each other. Hope is how we refrain from mistreating each other. Hope is who we are. And this land of promise is full of hope, but it’s a hope and a potential yet to be fully realised.”

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Source: CBCEW‍