A senior French bishop on Tuesday called for pilgrims to visit the Holy Land to show solidarity with the Christian communities in the region.
Pilgrims “should not only come here to deepen their faith and take some photos… but also to take an interest in the Christians and the other people who live here,” Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, president of the French Bishops’ Conference, told reporters in Jerusalem.
The archbishop of the southern French city of Marseille made his appeal at the end of a five-day visit to the Holy Land, accompanied by two other prelates from the French Bishops’ conference.
On Monday, the delegation visited Bethlehem.
“When we went to the Nativity Church, we were the only visitors there,” Aveline noted.
