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HOLY LAND: BEERSHEBA, MASS IN SHELTER. THE TESTIMONY OF FR SALVATERRA
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- Creato: 15 Marzo 2012
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“There is fear and anxiety, but we still hope for peace. We long for peace and justice; we do not want the victory of one side or the other. There are no winners in this war, but only losers”. With this spirit the small Hebrew-speaking Catholic community (kehilla) of Beersheba, the capital of the Negev region, south of Israel, is facing the Grad rocket attacks launched by Islamic Jihad militants from the Gaza Strip. Israel responded to the latest rocket attack, yesterday evening, with air raids on Gaza and Khan Yunis. An escalation of violence that not even the Egyptian-mediated truce could stop and that, so far, has claimed the lives of 26 Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy and a child aged 7. The danger is so great that Fr. Gioele Salvaterra, Fidei Donum priest from the Diocese of Bolzano-Brixen, who has been living in Israel for two and a half years as pastor of the kehilla of Beersheba, celebrated Mass in the shelter of the community house last Sunday. “The reason for this decision - he told SIR - is that we needed to feel safe since two hours prior to the beginning of the Mass, a rocket had fallen close to our house. We wanted to meet in any case in the shelter, and the faithful, there are about 40 of them who come here on Sunday, accepted this decision”. “Our community is living these days with anxiety but also with the hope that all this will end soon and that Israelis and Palestinians will once again be able to live free from any fear”. Children are those who are suffering the most. Fr. Salvaterra explained: “children know what is going on, they learn it from their parents, from their friends. What we are trying to do is to make them feel protected, to listen to their fears. They often come here for Mass and they feel the need to tell us about what they have experienced, things like having to run to the shelter in the middle of the night, after the alarm”. Among the testimonies gathered from the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community of Beersheba, there is one of a little girl called Salma: “The situation isn’t normal. After three and a half years, the inhabitants aren’t accustomed to hearing the alarm sound so often as in the past few days. Schools remain closed, which can be good news for us children, but our parents are suffering, they fear for us. We continue to pray”. A prayer that calls for openness and acceptance: “the message that our Hebrew-speaking Catholic communities can send in the current situation is one of openness to the other, Israeli or Palestinian. We need openness and acceptance and for this reason - the priest concluded - we speak up for peace and harmony in the South and for all those who suffer”.
© www.agensir.it - 15 marzo 2012
© www.agensir.it - 15 marzo 2012