Where God Weeps - the suffering church in focus
How you can help » Help for the sisters of the Carmel of the Child Jesus in Bethlehem
Israel and Palestine: Help for the sisters of the Carmel of the Child Jesus in Bethlehem
Carmel of the Child Jesus in Bethlehem: The church and the monastery. @ACN
In January 2005 ACN received an urgent appeal from the prioress of the Carmel in Bethlehem, Sister Lucyna of the Cross. „Very recently", she wrote, "the shocking news has reached us that our convent precincts are being used as a refuge by Islamic militants. This is being dealt with at the highest levels, the patriarch, the Nuncio, the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli military. I have had the entire site searched through and been able to ascertain that everything is 'clean'. But we must remain vigilant and urgently need to invest in security measures, such as iron grilles on the windows, and cameras. Unfortunately, we have no money for such additional expenditure". In practice, the sisters want to replace the windows in the part of the convent containing the museum devoted to Blessed Miriam, the archives and the guest accommodation.
The Carmelite sisters here in the autonomous Palestinian area of Bethlehem, depend on charity and on their host-baking activity to support themselves, and likewise on the pilgrims who come here to pay homage to the foundress of their convent, Miriam Baouardy, or Mary of Jesus Crucified, who was beatified in 1983.
In August the same year, Father Pietro Felet, Director of the solidarity secretariat, described the dilemma facing the sisters. The grounds of the convent very extensive and "the 19th-century walls surrounding the site are not very high. It is becoming more and more difficult for the sisters to live in security. The grounds have begun to be used as a refuge for youths of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas, who are being searched for by the Israeli army. ... Neither we nor the sisters can keep watch day and night over the grounds ".
The Carmelite convent in Bethlehem is a symbol of reconciliation between Christians, Jews and Arabs. Quite apart from these necessary security measures, it in any case needs some renovation work, and for 31 years little or nothing has been done to its neo-Romanesque Byzantine convent church. Earth tremors in the past have damaged the ceiling. The Carmel has a very ancient and extensive archive and all the documents are kept inside the convent, where they are sought out and read by many people. The sisters now also want to reorganise and refurbish these archives.
In December 2007 Sister Lucyna of the Cross was able to write us that the renovation work had been successfully completed. „It is a great joy to us to be able to tell you that we have completed all that we had planned to do, thanks to your generous help".
To know about this and many other similar projects in favour of the pastoral needs of the suffering Church, please contact our national offices.