Mar 6, 2007 / 11:21 am
The president of the German Bishops Conference said the Holy Land must not become “a living museum of Christianity.”
Cardinal Karl Lehmann made his comments March 4th, at the end of a recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land with a delegation of German bishops. The bishops met with local Christians and visited their schools and facilities.
The Catholic Church is vital for spiritual and social life in the Holy Land, he said, mentioning the Caritas children’s hospital in Bethlehem.
“The extent of the contribution made by the Church in the Holy Land to social life through all sorts of schools and social facilities is impressive,” he said. “We want to help Christians have a future here. We urge all believers to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land.”
The cardinal added that it is essential for the German people to face the genocide of the Jewish people during World War II both in the current day and in the future.
The Cardinal had visited the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem. “It is essential for all Germans to face the Genocide of the Jews in the present as well as in the future," he was quoted as saying.