The Presidency of the French Episcopal Conference (CEF) Visit Holy Land from August 16 to 20 to express the support of the Church in that European country before the “terrible humanitarian tragedy in Gaza” and the situation of Israeli hostages.
In a recent one communicationFrench prelates reported that they visit Holy Land to “manifest the support of our Church, not only to Christian communities, but also to all defenders of peace, regardless of their convictions or religions, in an extremely painful and uncertain period, marked by the terrible humanitarian tragedy in Gaza and the endless waiting for the liberation of Israeli hostages”.
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The bishops of the CEF said that they wanted to make this gesture of “visiting the Church that lives in Jerusalem and in the entire region” to “add to the efforts that, in their poverty, performs together with men and women of good will.”
The visit, in which Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille and president of the CEF participates, also aims to “ensure that the peoples of this land, especially the poorest, receive the material and spiritual support they need. We entrust this pilgrimage of hope to the prayers of all”.
In his X account, the secretary of the CEF, Mons. Christophe Sourt, shared some images of the second day of the visit, in which they met the priests of three parishes of Taybeh, “a particularly proven place in recent months.”
Second day of the Holy Land visit to the presidency of @Eglisecathowith Sunday mass in Taybeh, then meeting with the priests of the three parishes of this village particularly tested in recent months. pic.twitter.com/188JbNtKVz
– Christophe Le Sourt (@xoflesourt) August 17, 2025
On the first day they passed in the Holy Land, Mons. Le Sourt indicated that the visit “will include a time for meetings and exchanges with the monastic community of Abu Gosh. For five days, the delegation will reside in the old city of Jerusalem.”
Second day of the Holy Land visit to the presidency of @Eglisecathowith Sunday mass in Taybeh, then meeting with the priests of the three parishes of this village particularly tested in recent months. pic.twitter.com/188JbNtKVz
– Christophe Le Sourt (@xoflesourt) August 17, 2025
Walter Sánchez Silva
I am husband since 2008. With my wife we have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before birth. Since I joined ACI Press in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Colonia, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the family’s synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Sinodality, in 2023. I follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers the persecution of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as the ecclesial news in the region.