Christian leaders have called for prayers throughout Advent for Christians in the Holy Land as they prepare for a pilgrimage to the birth place of Jesus Christ.
The four heads of Churches will
undertake the pilgrimage in
solidarity with Christians
living in the Holy Land in the
week leading up to Christmas.
The pilgrimage is in response to
invitations from Christian
Churches in the Holy Land.
The call for prayer in the
Advent season is for the
pilgrims, but especially the
Christians (“the living rocks”)
who have practised Christianity
in that land throughout the last
two millennia.
The heads of Churches are the
Archbishop of Westminster,
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor;
the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the Most Revd Dr Rowan Williams;
Primate of the Armenian Church
of Great Britain Bishop Nathan
Hovhannisian; Free Churches
Moderator, the Reverend David
Coffey.
The pilgrims will arrive in the
Holy Land on 20 December and
travel to Jerusalem to meet
local Church Leaders. The
following day they will travel
to Bethlehem where they will
visit the Grotto of the Nativity
and an ecumenical service will
take place.
The focus of the pilgrimage will
be pastoral visits and meetings
with local Christians in both
Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The
pilgrimage will be based on
prayer and reflection on the
scriptures and opportunities for
shared worship with members of
the local Christian communities.
After two days in Bethlehem the pilgrimage will return to Jerusalem and return to the UK on 23 December.
