Jerusalem, Jun 7, 2016 / 13:49 pm
Jewish youths' stone-throwing attack on Catholics attending Mass in the Israeli city of Rehovot last month has drawn a rebuke from Church authorities.
"It is sad that people in prayer, for [the] most part, women working in Rehovot Jewish homes, were the victims of a hail of stones," said Bishop William Hanna Shomali, an auxiliary bishop of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
The faithful were attending Mass May 28 in the courtyard of the small chapel of the Community of St. Therese of Lisieux. The Catholic community in Rehovot, located 30 miles northwest of Jerusalem, is mainly composed of migrant workers from Africa, India, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka, as well as university students.
A group of Jewish boys about 14 years old hurled stones at the large congregation. The stones "did hit a few of the people although again thank the Lord no one was seriously hurt," the Saint James Vicariate for Hebrew-speaking Catholics reported.