Father Ibrahim Faltas of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land talks about the two years of the pandemic in Bethlehem and the confident prayer to Saint Joseph
edited by Alba Arcuri
EIt was December 8, 2020 when Pope Francis announced the year dedicated to Saint Joseph. In the midst of the pandemic, he perpetuated "the entrustment of the entire Church to the very powerful patronage of the Guardian of Jesus". Unfortunately the closure of the churches, and then the reopening with distancing also means sending someone home, inviting them to follow mass remotely, renouncing the Eucharist. It happened all over the world, it happened in the Holy Land.
Father Ibrahim Faltas ofm, councilor of the Custody of Terrasanta, director of the schools of the same Custody, remembers those days in a diary, which has become a book The Pandemic in the Holy Land (Edizioni Terra Santa), which runs from Easter 2020 until the following one. In it she describes the "solitude" of the usually crowded sacred places, the celebrations cancelled, Easter 2020 "humiliated and resigned", but it tells of the stubbornness in wanting to reopen them. At the end of February 2022 Father Ibrahim presented his book in the Parish of Santa Prisca in Rome. We met him.
Father Ibrahim, how did you experience the memory of Saint Joseph in the year desired by Pope Francis?
We have experienced this year dedicated to Saint Joseph with many initiatives and celebrations in the places that refer to him: the house of Saint Joseph in Bethlehem and Nazareth. We truly lived his memory! In Bethlehem we celebrated mass every day.
Is the memory of Saint Joseph felt?
Yes, it's very heartfelt! Many people participated in the mass, in Bethlehem and in Nazareth.
In your book-diary you recount the days of the pandemic in the Holy Land when everything was closed...
The pandemic has brought everyone to their knees, even the leaders of the world. We Franciscans have been present in the Holy Land for 800 years and we had never experienced something like this: we couldn't go to the Holy Sepulcher, to the Nativity, everything was closed, two years without pilgrims. But we insisted that the celebrations take place - we were at the beginning of Lent 2020. It wasn't easy with the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian Authority, but we made it.
So was there collaboration?
Of course, it was a moment of collaboration, of brotherhood, of friendship; many Palestinians have been vaccinated by the Israeli authorities. We have had many deaths in Israel, in Palestine. The pandemic has made everyone the same. The pandemic did this too! You too in Italy have suffered and many people in Nazareth and other sacred places have prayed for you. The Holy Land loves Italy. Difficult moments and beautiful moments
What beautiful moments do you remember?
Precisely during the pandemic we got back, after 54 years, the convent of San Giovanni Battista al Giordano, which was under Israeli protection. When we entered there was still the closed mass book. We opened the page, celebrated mass and then stopped, even afterwards. It was wonderful! We also got back, again after 54 years, the Aleppo college in Syria. And then we returned to the Cenacle, after 531 years. We were able to celebrate Holy Thursday mass and Pentecost. Never, in 531 years, we had been able to pray and celebrate Mass at the Cenacle, in Jerusalem! It has always been our desire, since we have been in the Holy Land, for 800 years. The Israeli authority allowed us to do so.
How have people changed in the Holy Land with this pandemic?
The Christians of the Holy Land all work in the tourism sector. No more pilgrims have arrived for two years. Bethlehem paid the highest price: imagine two years without work! The Palestinian Authority (Bethlehem is located in Palestinian territory, ed), was unable to provide aid because, truly, the Palestinian Authority itself is economically in dire straits. From March the pilgrims should return, we hope.
Was living in solitude a big change for you Franciscans too?
Oh yes, no one would have ever imagined it. There were four of us at the Via Crucis on Good Friday. On Palm Sunday there were ten of us. Very few even at Christmas. But we did everything to be able to celebrate anyway, we insisted even if it was dangerous, why? Because we wanted to pray for the whole world, which had its eyes focused on the holy places. And then it all began in Lent and at the Holy Sepulchre, which is the heart of the Easter liturgy. Of course, it was hard for us too, we lost several friars to covid.
The Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem had never been closed, except at a particular moment, when the Israeli army, in 2002 besieged it, because the Palestinians had barricaded themselves inside, and she acted as a shield...
Yes, it was during the second intifada, exactly 20 years have passed since then. For 40 days we were locked inside with 240 Palestinians. 8 were killed, 27 were wounded. We were without water, food, electricity. And the Nativity was closed for 40 days.
In his book there is also a chapter dedicated to the Pope's trip to Iraq.
Yes, it's a diary and I also recounted that moment. The Pope was very courageous! Even everything he said left its mark. And then we have Iraqi friars in the Holy Land, who wanted to go: we did everything to send them. it was difficult, I organized the trip myself, but we managed it.