NABLUS, West Bank, JAN. 10, 2011.- The archbishop of Liverpool opened a youth
center in Nablus on Sunday -- the only in the area -- and the local parish
priest hailed it as an important step in halting emigration.
The center is the latest contribution from the international group
of bishops and Church leaders known as the Holy Land Cooperation, which meets
each January in the Middle East with the ongoing pledge of showing Christians
in the land of Jesus' birth that the universal Church is supporting them.
Archbishop Patrick Kelly of Liverpool, England, is currently in
the Holy Land and on Sunday, he opened the Nablus youth center. Faithful of the
archdiocese and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre are jointly funding the
center.
The complex was built next to the parish church of St. Justin in
Rafidia, a northern suburb of Nablus. St. Justin is twinned with St. Oswald and
St. Cecilia in Liverpool.
Father Johnny Abu-Khalil, the parish priest of St. Justin,
welcomed representatives of the Holy Land Coordination.
“We have two bishops: the Patriarch Archbishop Faoud Twal and
Archbishop Patrick Kelly," Father Abu-Khalil said. "This youth center
is an important step in halting emigration and will help young people stay in
Palestine. It is an exemplary project, offering a model of cooperation that
should be duplicated across the Palestinian territories. It is the only youth
center in the area and offers hope for our young people; for the future.
“As the mayor of Nablus says: Speak not of Christian or Muslim
communities. Speak of Christian and Muslim inhabitants of Nablus. We are proud
that there is a united Nablus.”
Coming together around beauty
The Liverpool Archdiocese donated £50,000 (almost $78,000), which
was matched by an equal gift from the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. The center
was thus able to be created out of crumbling outbuildings.
Archbishop Kelly said to the assembled faithful, from young
children to a 92-year-old parishioner: “It is important not just to surround
yourselves by things you can use, but also by things that are beautiful, like
this center. Liverpool Cathedral is often used by television because of its
beauty and it is because of its beauty that we can spread the Good News of the
Gospel. Beauty is where everything comes together.”
The prelate went on to speak of Jesus as a bridge-builder.
"Jesus is not distant," he said. "The Word becomes
flesh and lives among us. He is close to us -- to the families of those killed
in the U.S., to those in Iraq and Egypt. But we must go further. Jesus did not
build a wall. He built a bridge. He tells us: I will go into the heart of those
who did wicked things. I will not condemn. I will go to them.
“Why are we, as bishops of the Holy Land Coordination, here? We
are here to be with you in solidarity, but also to encourage you to build
bridges; to unite all as we are one family. We all bring our sorrows, but we
can transform them. Near here Jesus met the Samaritan woman by Jacob’s Well.
There he said he was not the savior of this land. He is the Savior of the
world. You, the people of St. Justin, carry that message. Baptism makes us one
family, bringing light to what is dark.”
