Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa | CBCEW
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, will visit the UK at the end of the week to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem’s Lieutenancy in England and Wales.
Arriving on the evening of Wednesday 27 November, Patriarch Pizzaballa will first meet with Cardinal Vincent Nichols on Thursday 28 November ahead of a parliamentary reception at the Palace of Westminster to meet with MPs and civil servants.
Late afternoon on Thursday sees the Patriarch visit the Order of Malta’s Grand Priory of Great Britain where he will meet with members and celebrate vespers.
The following day, Friday 29 November, Patriarch Pizzaballa will greet the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, in person and virtually, when visiting the Bishops’ Conference where he will celebrate Mass and meet secretariat staff.
In the evening, he will attend the Investiture Vigil at Arms with Benediction at St George’s Cathedral, Southwark. Archbishop John Wilson KC*HS, Archbishop of Southwark and the Grand Prior of the Lieutenancy of England and Wales, will preside and preach at the vigil.
The Lieutenancy, established in 1954, will celebrate a Mass of Investiture for new Knights and Dames in St George’s Cathedral on Saturday, 30 November. Patriarch Pizzaballa will preside and preach at the Mass.
The following day, on Sunday, 1 December, the Latin Patriarch will preach at a Solemn Mass for the First Sunday of Advent at Westminster Cathedral. Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference, will preside.
On Sunday evening, His Beatitude will travel to Scotland to be hosted by the Scottish Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre. There he will celebrate Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, before a day of meetings and receptions.
Cardinal Pizzaballa will return to Jerusalem on the evening of Tuesday 3 December.
Christians of the Holy Land
The Christians of the Holy Land and the people of the region are facing intense pressure and suffering in these days. In a homily given on 21 October, Patriarch Pizzaballa said:
“The small Christian community in the Middle East continues to be tested… the power of the cross remains bright and gives us comfort. While it may be hard for us to change the world of politics, we will not make possible for the world of politics to change us. We will not allow the logic of violence to have the last word or be the only voice in the Middle East.
“This is the power of Christian witness, and the significance of its presence in these lands, marked by the life of Jesus and, throughout history, bathed in the blood of Christian testimony. We are called to be, through word and action, the luminous presence of Christ – the strength of life, the embodiment of brotherhood and welcome, the desire for the good of all, and the courage to forgive.”
Holy Land Co-ordination
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem is a Catholic diocese with territory in Cyprus, Jordan, Israel and Palestine. The Bishops’ Conference has long had a close relationship with the Holy Land and the Patriarchate. Since 1998, the Department for International Affairs has organised the annual meeting of the Co-ordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land. It’s often more simply called the Holy Land Co-ordination. Mandated by the Holy See, the Holy Land Co-ordination meets every January in the lands of Christ’s birth, ministry, Passion and Resurrection. It acts in solidarity with the region’s Christian communities and shares in the pastoral life of the local Church as it experiences extreme political and social-economic pressure.
Source: CBCEW