Pilgrims in the Holy Land, ‘we are here for peace’

(by Manuela Tulli) (ANSA) – ROME, MARCH 29 – The pilgrims return to Jerusalem: the first group organized by the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, since 7 October, is in these days in the Holy Land to experience Easter with the local Christian community . It’s a small group, about twenty people from all over Italy, but the ORP plans to plan two trips a month from now on. Trips to the Holy Land have always been the focus of the main body that organizes religious trips and which refers to the diocese of Rome. “We are very happy – Don Giovanni Biallo, spiritual assistant of the ORP and leader of this first group after the start of the war, told ANSA -, everything is going well, in peace”. Don Giovanni has led hundreds of groups in recent years: “One thing, however, had never happened to me: the joy of Easter is mixed with a hint of sadness, you can see it on the faces of the people. We are here to pray for peace, we are close to everyone, and as pilgrims we consider ourselves the third people of the Holy Land”. What we breathe “is a great desire for peace”, says Don Biallo, reached by telephone in Jerusalem. The welcome for the pilgrims is very warm: “Everyone thanks us, they greet us on the street, from the Franciscans to the people of the Old City who have always known us, they tell us they are happy that we have returned, not only the Palestinian community but also the Jewish. As I always say: we love both peoples, we are ‘equal’ to everyone.” As for security, “the streets are heavily patrolled by police forces but here we have always been used to praying among the police and the military. Today, which is not only Good Friday for us Christians but also Ramadan Friday, we could imagine some turbulence. There hasn’t been any.” The message is therefore that “we need to return to the Holy Land, resume pilgrimages. There are many people, and I am referring above all to the Palestinian part, who need to work. Let’s think for example of Bethlehem where everything is at a standstill because they live above all from our tourism. But above all these people need closeness. We must not be afraid and our presence is a source of joy for both, for the local Palestinian Christians but also for the Jewish world which has suffered an unacceptable aggression. Like pilgrims, we can be a factor of reconciliation. In these days we pray for this. Upon my return – assures Don Biallo – I will work for this: the pilgrimages must resume as before”. (HANDLE).