Catholics Gather For ‘Big Happening’

Catholics from Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories will come together for the first synod in the Holy Land since the time of the apostles, church officials said Thursday.

The meeting of church leaders will be “a big happening for all of us,” said Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, a Palestinian and the top Roman Catholic clergyman in the region.

Sabbah will preside over the synod, which will include Greek Catholics, Armenian Catholics, Syrian Catholics, Maronites and Chaldeans as well as Roman Catholics. Eastern Orthodox Christians will be invited as guests.

“The object is to let Christians know that they are one church - and that within this one church they are many communities,” Sabbah said.

At the end of the synod, participants will produce a document on the role of Christians in the Holy Land.