Rome, Italy, Oct 4, 2011 / 01:05 am
Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien is calling upon Catholics to give renewed support to Christians in the Holy Land.
“Our population there is ebbing – we are now only about two percent of the total population,” he told CNA in Rome, Sept. 27.
“The holy places where Christ walked and where monuments are established to recall his words, his death and resurrection, they are now less and less frequented. Therefore we must as good Christians around the world respect that patrimony.”
It has been one month since the Vatican asked 72-year-old Archbishop O’Brien to move from the Archdiocese of Baltimore to become the Grand Master of The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Although the order has its headquarters in Rome, it is responsible for promoting and defending Christianity in the Holy Land.