Father David invited to Italy


For two days, September 14 and 15, Father David Neuhaus, Patriarchal Vicar for Hebrew Speaking Catholics in Israel, visited Italy as a guest of the Italian Church.

On September 14, Father David arrived in Venice, invited by the Patriarchate of Venice, to participate in the traditional procession on the occasion of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. The procession departs from the Franciscan church in the city and ends at the church of the School of Saint John the Evangelist, which celebrates its 750th year this year. In the absence of the Patriarch, Cardinal Angelo Scuola, recently named Archbishop of Milan by the Pope, his role was filled by Mons. Orlando Barbaro. Father David was invited to give a short homily at the beginning of the procession in which he underlined the challenge implicit in the feast: transforming the cross, a cruel and humiliating instrument of torture, into a key to the kingdom of heaven. This is what Christ did when he died for us sinners.

That evening of September 14, Father David was invited to give a talk to representatives of the group of pilgrims from he Venetian Patriarchate that will visit the Holy Land in November – 650 in number. He spoke of the Church of Jerusalem and especially about the work of the Saint James Vicariate.

The following day, on September 15, Father David arrived in Assisi, homeland of beloved Saint Francis, the poor man of God. There he was the guest of the local bishop, Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino, who invited him to speak at the opening of the diocesan assembly. Two years ago, Archbishop Sorrentino published a pastoral letter, titled "Conversing with us", in which he detailed a program for the diocese to get to know the Bible. This year, the second year of the program, is consecrated to the Old Testament. In a hall full of priests, men and women religious and engaged laypeople, Father David opened the two day assembly and he focused on the question: "What happens when a Christian reads the Old Testament?" Once again, this was an occasion to expose to the universal Church the work of the Saint James Vicariate.

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