Noi siamo quelli dell’Europa. È vecchia, ma spesso si dimentica che è ancora piccina rispetto a «mamma Gerusalemme». Chi ha già fatto l’esperienza di uno dei nostri pellegrinaggi nella Terra del Santo sa che non ci accontentiamo di incontrarci con la fonte della fede attraverso ciò che sta sotto la terra: gli scavi, l’archeologia, la memoria. Nemmeno di ciò che sta sopra: i santuari, i luoghi santi, le celebrazioni. Ci interessiamo di chi vive nella terra: le pietre vive! Ci stiamo rendendo conto che in oriente, il passato che ci accomuna e il presente con la sua complessità, sono così importanti che disgiungerli significherebbe perdere qualcosa di fondamentale, proprio di ciò che andiamo cercando, ogni volta che andiamo a questa fonte. Spesso i pellegrini tornano mancanti, fruitori di una esperienza di turismo religioso, sinceri nel loro atto di fede, sicuramente toccati in qualche modo dallo Spirito ma con il rischio che «non sono stati dei veri pellegrini», non hanno incontrato la fonte, oppure ne hanno bevuto ben poco rispetto a quello che avrebbero potuto (la fonte è anche il testo, the Bible, and the risk is to meet the land of the Bible without even opening it!). We have launched a style of wandering, with a continuity after the trip. We have contacts with the living stones, for bridges, to initiate, promote and then keep forms of sharing. We want to bring up contacts with local resources and positive in each of the revealed religions, to learn to feel accommodated by all, to hear different voices, because of the Holy Land is our land, we can not attend to 'European', export a style inconsistent with the land: it is not only inhabited by minorities and by a majority, it is the Holy and for those who live there, both for those passes. The earth is full of colors and ideas, memories and traditions, the earth is a place of complexity and conflict, but also full of possibilities, of witnesses of faith, living faith in such a way that we never know in background, yet I remain evangelized. This mode of travel is good for our pilgrims, and good for those who live in the Holy Land, who received us with much joy and it is said. On the one hand they do not feel abandoned, on the other pilgrims encounter the world of the brothers in the faith of Jesus, or Abraham, to notice a world otherwise unknown, never to return to the same as it started. The ecumenical pilgrimage is an opportunity, an opportunity to know the situation in a proper perspective, to give support, meet the living stones, to exit from the parameters of a certain religious tourism, even in the choices often are made more concrete. There are pilgrimages fruit of sets ready, "a" hit and run "from the price at times treacherous, alluring, but which are motivated only by economic interests that glosses over the issues of the day. It's "pilgrimage" an organized trip like this? It is the journey to meet the living stones or travel to mold the bricks of the tower of Babel? There is a risk of going to the Middle East, organized, very essential, often uninterested in the local situation, and very interested in dead stones, to treat the land as a museum. In this case we are in danger of being children of the tower of Babel, in danger of being like those bricks, all equal and if they are the building blocks that we have available to build the story, then we can only speak of a history of bankruptcy. We can, however, listen to an invitation from the Middle East, to feel alive, where local communities are ready to greet us with their style, their resources, with their enthusiasm, with history, archeology, memory, speech flesh from their land, but still beating in their faces, in people, not just echo una'esperienza linked to the memory of the past, but echoes of meetings with the present reality, religious, social and political life.
Don Walter
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PROGRAM DAY 1 - February 28 - Monday
Alexandria / Milano / Tel Aviv / Bethlehem
Departure by bus to the airport of Milan Malpensa. ELAL flight to Tel Aviv. Arrival in Tel Aviv. Drive to Bethlehem, hotel accommodation, dinner and overnight.
DAY 2 - March 1 - Tuesday
Bethlehem / Hebron / Bethlehem
Visit the Basilica of the Nativity. S. Mass. Lunch. In the early afternoon transfer to Hebron to visit the Tombs of the Patriarchs. Return to Bethlehem. Dinner and overnight.
Day 3 - March 2 - Wednesday
Jerusalem / Mount Zion / Jerusalem Bethlehem
A Visit to the Temple Mount and Western Wall ("Wailing Wall"), then visit to Mount Zion Christian ": the Upper Room, Dormition and S . Peter Gallicantu. Lunch. In the afternoon
Church of St. Anna, the Flagellation, Via Dolorosa. Holy Sepulchre. Mass at the Holy Sepulchre. Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.
Day 4 - March 3 - Thursday
Bethlehem / Ramallah / Jericho / Departure
Bethlehem to Ramallah. Visit the center pattern. Lunch. In the afternoon the parish of Taibeh, the only entirely Christian village, where we meet Father Raed Abusahlia, the pastor of the community. Making Taibeh. Return to Bethlehem for dinner and overnight.
Day 5 - March 4 - Friday
Bethlehem / Sebastia / Nablus / Departure to Bethlehem
Sebastia: the city founded by Herod the Great, on the site of Samaria, in honor of Emperor Augustus. Acropolis of Sebastia still stand the ruins of the Roman city, partially excavated in the last century, including the forum and basilica, the theater, the Temple of Augustus, the colonnaded street and part of the walls. In the Byzantine period, over a Roman burial site outside the walls, under the current mosque was built a church, in memory of the burial of John the Baptist that the sources of the Christian Holy Land celebrated in this place since the fourth century. The present building was rebuilt by the Crusaders when they arrived in the Holy Land in the second half of the twelfth century and was second in size only to the Church of S. Sepulchre. Lunch.
visit to Nablus: also known as Shechem is one of the largest cities of Palestine. It is located about sixty kilometers north of Jerusalem between the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim very close to the biblical Shechem. The great majority of the population is Arab. The city was founded by the Romans in 72 and was called Flavia Neapolis (new city of Emperor Flavius). After the Arab conquest occurred in 636, was called Nablus. The Crusaders will call the Naples and become one of the major cities of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1202 will be destroyed by the Crusaders themselves. Later rebuilt by the Arabs. Return to Bethlehem, dinner and overnight.
Day 6 - March 5 - Saturday
Bethlehem / Jerusalem / Yad Vashem / Bethlehem
morning visit to Jerusalem. Mount of Olives, Dominus Flevit with Mass, Gethsemane and the Tomb of the Virgin. Lunch.
visit to Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum) and the Museum of the Book. Return to Bethlehem. Dinner and overnight.
DAY 7 - March 6 - Sunday
Bethlehem / Jericho / Bethlehem
Transfer Jericho. Visit the site of the baptism of Jesus Tour in Town. Visit the Mosaic Centre. Christian Mass in the parish of the Good Shepherd. I greet the Mayor of the City twinned with Alexandria. Lunch. In the afternoon visit to Qumran and stop at the Dead Sea. Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.
Day 8 - March 7 - Monday
Jerusalem / Tel Aviv / Milano / Alessandria
the morning free time. Lunch. Departure to Lod, and visit the church which houses the tomb of St. George. Transfer to the airport in Tel Aviv. ELAL flight boarding. Arrive in Milan Malpensa. Return to Alexandria.
FEE
In a double room € 1,290.00
Supplement single room € 270.00
REGISTRATION: Call as soon as possible to Don Walter (335 5818204) for enrollment.
to confirm (by December 20) is required for a deposit of € 400
(Until January 31 deleted posts will be subject to a penalty of 150 Euro, from 1 to February 10, the posts will be removed subject to penalty € 400.00, from February 20 to the day of departure, the total penalty for any cancellation).
THE FEE INCLUDES:
- Bus transfer to / from the airport of Milan Malpensa; steps ELAL flying, airport taxes and customs in Israel, and service fees; kg. 20 luggage free; airport assistance in Italy and abroad, good hotel accommodation in double rooms with services category, full board from dinner on the first day to lunch on the last, excursions, tours, entrance fees, as scheduled; gratuities, porterage and extras, with Gt Bus driver; authorized Italian speaking guide throughout the tour; Medical Insurance - luggage Mondial Assistance, complimentary to each participant.
THE FEE DOES NOT INCLUDE:
- optional supplementary insurance cancellation MONDIAL ASSISTANCE: 3.50% of the cost of the package (contract 2008), anything not expressly mentioned in the program.
Documents For Italian citizens and 'asked for the regular passport stamped and valid for at least 6 months from the date of commencement of travel.
Changes to the program may be required for conditions and needs that arise in the Holy Land and reported on the spot or later. The places of the celebrations are only indicative.
Technical organization: "Ether" Ltd. - Bicester
terms as catalog Eteria 2010
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