Earlier this month, HE Mgr. Mario Grech, Bishop of Gozo, represented the Maltese Episcopal Conference at the the annual Plenary Assembly of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE).

This year the Plenary Assembly took place in the Holy Land, at the invitation of His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, as a witness to the solidarity of the Church in Europe with the Catholic Church and the communities of faithful present there.

There were visits to Holy Places in Galilee, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. It was the first time in CCEE’s history that a Plenary Assembly took place in the Holy Land, in the land where Christianity was born and developed.

The exceptional nature of the event was further underlined by the fact that it was the first time in the recent history of Christianity that such a large number of high-level representatives of the European episcopate were meeting there at the same time: 45 countries were represented at this meeting. The main theme discussed was: “The joy and hardships of particular Churches”.

During their visits the European Bishops had a chance to visit Christian communities in the Holy Land, see the work of the Church in this country and also meet with Israeli and Palestinian political authorities.

The Bishops called for the success of the Synod of the Family, which is being held in Rome in October, while their final message was, that through their pilgrimage, the European bishops also “wished to encourage pilgrimages in the land of Jesus in order to renew the faith and support the Christians of these places.”

The Plenary Assembly concluded with a celebration at the altar of the empty tomb of Jesus in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.

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