Press release, 8th May, 2022

In collaboration with the Churches of the Holy Land and the Ecumenical Institute of Tantur, the Taizé Community is leading an international meeting of young people from 8th to 15th May in the Holy Land. The meeting takes place not only in Jerusalem, but also in Bethlehem and neighbouring towns, as well as in Galilee, Nazareth and Mount Tabor. Brother Alois and a group of about ten brothers from the community are present.

All the Churches took part in the long preparation of which this meeting is the fruit. Reaching out to the inhabitants of isolated villages in Palestine and to students at the prestigious Technion Institute in Haifa, forty preparatory evenings of prayer and reflection took place in February and March. Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Catholics of various rites, Lutherans and Anglicans all pitched in to prepare the welcome of the young people. Many of them are staying with local people, especially in Bethlehem.

“Journeying together to sources of hope” - this is the theme that everyone is exploring during the week. The songs of Taizé will be heard in the most beautiful churches of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Galilee, alternating with exchanges, workshops of various kinds and visits to places of suffering and hope. See the programme available online.

Three hundred young people from many European countries and also from other continents are participating in this meeting. Exchanges with young people from the Holy Land take place every morning in the churches and in the host families.

Young people from the Holy Land will join the Europeans at each stage of the pilgrimage:

• · Monday: Jerusalem, audience with the Greek-Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III; mid-day prayer at Saint Anne’s; through visits prepared by Christians from the Holy Land, discovery of various faces of Christianity in the Middle East; evening prayer in the Melkite Cathedral; return for the night to Bethlehem and surrounding towns. .

• · Tuesday: Jerusalem, prayer at St Stephen’s Basilica; workshop with two professors from the Jerusalem Bible School to reflect on what it means to read the Bible in biblical lands; further workshops on the role of hope as a driving force for action, especially where injustice exists.

• · Wednesday: Bethlehem, evening prayer with words from Patriarch Pizzaballa..

• · Thursday: Jerusalem, welcome by Lutherans in a church very close to the Holy Sepulchre.

• · Friday: on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, meditation on the Gospel texts where Jesus calls, instructs, is revealed and prepares his disciples for their mission on the shores of this sea. .
• · Saturday: Nazareth, followed by a final prayer together in the Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.

Contact number for the press: +972 54 223 8144 / Email address