Holy Land Pilgrimage 2007

Welcome to the pilgrim's blog.  Planning is underway for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from April 23- May 12, 2007.   We will follow the footsteps of Moses and Jesus;  from Egypt through Jordan and Israel; from Bethlehem and Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee & Jerusalem. For more information, just give me an email;   specific practical details about the pilgrimge will be posted on this site.

I will post relevant info here, as well as try to answer any questions you may have.  I also hope to have pdfs of any documents, maps, etc that may be helpful for the pilgrimage.

You can post things in the "comments" section (just click on the link that says comments).   Hopefully this will provide a useful space in addition to our personal get togethers.

Joe

Comments

[Fr. Hanna Kildani]

Dear Messrs.

I would like to offer to you a proposal, to put a link on your web page for my book entitled: “History of Modern Christianity in the Holy Land.” The web address of the book is:

www.geocities.com/modernjopa

My name is Fr. Hanna Kildani, from the clergy of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. I am actually the general director of the Latin Patriarchate Schools in Jordan.

In my judgment, the book could be useful for the readers of your web page, particularly to those who want to know more about the history of the Holy Land, or intend to do a pilgrimage. The book tackled a historic issue, namely, the structural development of the Churches in Jordan and Palestine in the nineteenth century. Meanwhile, it simultaneously linked the civil and ecclesiastical history in the region with one another. I printed my book in Arabic in Amman in 1993, and was translated into English in 2006.

The book can be distinguished by its ecumenical aspect, dealing with the history of all the Churches, and that it linked the ecclesiastical and civil history together. It attempted to cast light on the history of the Churches combined, their progress and structures, the development and the growth of their parishes and institutions.

Synopsis of the book:

“History of Modern Christianity in the Holy Land” is a modest contribution to the documentation of the history of our country. In the nineteenth century, the structure of the Churches underwent change. Christian institutions developed in light of the Ottoman firmans and the international relations forged by the Ottoman Sultanate. At that time, the systems of the millet, capitulation, international interests and the Eastern question were all interlocked in successive and complex events that occurred in the Ottoman arena. The development of the structure of the Churches had its local and international dimensions, which should be understood in order to comprehend the realities governing present-day Christianity. On the local level, the first law of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate was issued and the Orthodox Arab issue rose to the surface. Moreover, the Latin Patriarchate was re-established and the Anglican bishopric was formed. Most of these events occurred in Jerusalem and they necessarily reach out to the various parts of Palestine and Jordan. They narrate the history of the patriarchates and the patriarchs and the local and international contacts, the institutions, schools, universities, seminaries, parishes and religious orders that developed during this historical period. This history is not restricted to the Churches, which constitute part of the civilization of our homeland and human civilization at large. Therefore, the study briefly touches on the public, political, social and economic life, the Christian-Muslim relations, the history of the clans, the ties that the neighboring countries forged with the Holy Land, and the pilgrimage to the Holy Places. This pilgrimage is one of the most prominent features of our country. The Lord has blessed this country with the monotheistic missions, which the Lord -God, Allah, Elohim- cleansed and chose out of all other spots of the world for these missions. The sources and references of this book are diverse in terms of color, language and roots. They can take the reader at one time to Jerusalem, Karak, Nazareth, and Salt and at other times to Istanbul, Rome, London and Moscow.

Sincerely yours,

Sincerely yours,
Fr. Hanna Kildani.