Patriarch Twal visits Beer Sheba

On Sunday evening, the Feast of the Ascension, Patriarch Twal paid a visit to the kehilla in Beer Sheba. He celebrated the liturgy in English in the Chapel of Our Father Abraham, which was overflowing with faithful who had come for this special occasion. The faithful responded in Hebrew in song and word. Father Piotr Zelasko, the parish priest in Beer Sheba welcomed the Patriarch and concelebrated the mass alongside Father David Neuhaus, Latin Patriarchal Vicar responsible for this parish, Father Alberto Garau, a retired priest who lives in the parish and Father George Ayoub, Chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate. In his homily, translated into Hebrew by Father David, the Patriarch described the beautiful diversity of the Church of Jerusalem and the call to be witnesses to both the Cross and the Resurrection in the Holy Land today.

After mass, he was invited to stay for a buffet dinner in the garden of the parish house, where the faithful had prepared a royal feast with foods that reflected the great diversity of faithful that gather in this parish.

The faithful in Beer Sheba are made up of many different groups of people: some Jewish Israelis who have encountered Christ, some Catholics with Jewish spouses, a number of Palestinian Arab families who have migrated to Beer Sheba from the Galilee and elsewhere in order to find work, migrants workers from the Philippines and India, asylum seekers from Africa, students from Ben Gurion University and expatriates working in the area. All come together in a united and joyful community!