Staff reporter
Primate of All-Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin has urged Irish Catholics to consider joining him in a Christian solidarity pilgrimage to the Holy Land later this year.
As all eyes look to Jerusalem this Holy Week, the archbishop has urged people to think of the tiny Christian community in the region known as the ‘living stones’ of the Holy Land.
He will lead a Christian solidarity pilgrimage to the Holy Land from September 9-17, 2016.
“I am honoured to be leading a pilgrimage of solidarity to the Holy Land this September and I encourage Irish people to think about making such a pilgrimage.
“Our presence with God’s people there is much appreciated. It reminds them that they are not forgotten and it brings to the gloom of their suffering a glimpse of Easter hope and joy,” the archbishop says writing in The Irish Catholic this week.
The pilgrimage will be an opportunity to visit holy sites and walk in the footsteps of Jesus in Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee and Jerusalem.
It will also be an opportunity to visit the Christian community in the region, which has been dwindling in recent years due to conflict and hardship.
