Sep 6, 2009 / 23:38 pm
Although Bethlehem is partitioned from East Jerusalem by a 25-foot high Israeli wall, behind the massive concrete barrier there are places where charity heals the lives of the poor and disabled.
On a recent trip to the area, I discovered that the Pontifical Mission-Jerusalem, is at work in these hardscrabble confines.
Gabi, a project manager for the Pontifical Mission in Palestine, met me in Manger Square just outside of the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was born some 2,000 years ago. Soon we were joined by Rodolf Saadeh, who also helps coordinate and fund the mission’s numerous charitable efforts in both Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
These two men endeavored to explain both the great work being done and the needs of the children in the area by taking me on a tour of the places benefiting from the Pontifical Mission, an agency of the Holy See, established by Pope Pius XII in 1949 "to make available to every exiled or needy Palestinian the charity of the Pope and of all Catholics of the world," Saadeh explained.