GALILEE – On Sunday, March 3rd, 2024, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, inaugurated the Family and Youth Pastoral Center in Haifa after presiding over a mass of thanksgiving at the Latin Church of St. Joseph.
The Mass was concelebrated by Mgr William Shomali, General Vicar, Mgr Rafiq Nahra, Patriarchal Vicar in Galilee, Mgr Ilario Antoniazzi, Archbishop of Tunisia, Mgr. Musa Al-Hajj, Bishop of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Haifa and the Holy Land, Father Cyprian Cyprian, Parish Priest of Haifa, Fr. Johnny Abu Khalil, Director of St. Charles pastoral center, and Fr. Ramez Twal, chaplain of the youth in Galilee, in addition to the presence of Mr. Sami Al-Youssef, CEO of the Latin Patriarchate, and several LPJ employees. The Mass service was supervised by the Seminary students of Beit Jala.
This center was established by H.B. Card. Pierbattista as an answer to the pastoral need for the living stones of the Church, in the Holy Land, but specifically in Galilee, which is exposed to much political and economic unrest. Hence, this pastoral center will care for the families, the nucleus of the society, as well as the youth, the future and hope of the Church.
Commenting on the Gospel reading, Card. Pizzaballa said: “Despite the importance of money in our life and the life of the Church as well, it should not be our priority. Rather, our priority is to serve Jesus, who saved us by dying on the cross for free. And the question that must arise in today’s reading is: Who is the focus of our lives? Jesus or money? And how can we connect these two dimensions healthily and soundly, without losing Jesus as the primary focus of our Christian life.”
Then, Fr. Johnny Abu Khalil, delivered a speech, in which he explained the process it took to launch this center, as well as some of the aspirations and future services that the Latin Patriarchate will provide to the faithful in Galilee: “I was appointed by H.B. to overlook the completion of this pastoral building, and since then, we have been working on restoring what was an known as an old building and turning it into a place where family and youth meet under the guidance of the church. They will have access to different spiritual services such as counseling. But also, it's a place where the Youth in Galilee and the Family Committee will be meeting and will host different activities, such as lectures, seminars, and skills development. After nine months of hard work, we finally opened the center".
After the Mass, all the attendees went to the building of the center, where H.B. Pierbattista Pizzaballa blessed it with Holy Water, and welcomed all to tour it and learn more about its various departments.
