Fundraising dinner supports Church in the Holy Land

Franciscan Father Peter Vasko, the president of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land (FFHL), speaks on March 12 at a fundraising dinner for the foundation at the Marriott North hotel in Indianapolis. The FFHL gives support to Catholics in the Holy Land so that the Church can remain there. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

Franciscan Father Peter Vasko told more than 200 supporters of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land (FFHL) during a March 12 fundraising dinner in Indianapolis that he now sees the beginnings of a good future for the Church in the land where Jesus walked the Earth 2,000 years ago.

“Today, folks, we are finally seeing a glimmer of light as more and more young Christians have received the opportunity of securing a college education in the Holy Land,” said Father Peter, the president of the foundation. “And, upon graduation, 70 percent of those students have become professional people in their various fields.

“But, more importantly, they have decided to stay in the Holy Land.”

This is important because, as a video about the work of the foundation viewed during the dinner said, the Christian population of the Holy Land has declined from 20 percent in 1948 when Israel was recognized by the United States as a sovereign state to just 2 percent today.

“Your presence here this evening confirms again that you, too, recognize Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth as your spiritual homeland also,” Father Peter said. “We have an extraordinary blessing to share, to preserve and pass on to the next generation following us.”

The FFHL is doing this in part by helping provide scholarships to young Catholic Palestinians in the Holy Land so they can attend universities close to where they live.

Much of the $183,000 raised at the dinner, Father Peter said, will be used to establish an endowment to fund such scholarships well into the future.

“It will generate a new hope for those young Christians planning to attend college so as to build up their future with greater confidence and community support,” Father Peter said. “This new endowment becomes another strategic, necessary instrument through which God’s young people will realize themselves as significant actors for the future of Christianity in the Holy Land.”

Also attending the dinner at the Marriott North hotel in Indianapolis were Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Fla., a member of the foundation’s board, and Bishop Christopher J. Coyne, the auxiliary bishop and vicar general of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

Catholic apologist, author and radio host Patrick Madrid was the keynote speaker at the fundraising dinner.

In his presentation, Madrid encouraged the attendees to learn about their faith, and find ways to share the truths of Catholicism in a positive and attractive manner.

He said that this task has been made more difficult because of inadequate faith formation over the past half century.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Madrid said. “But I think that it really boils down to what we can do as Catholics to identify ourselves publicly, not in a confrontational way, not in a pushy or showy way, … to draw others toward the truths of the faith that you and I hold. How can we do it in a way that is charitable and patient?”

Madrid suggested several ways by recounting stories from his own life of faith. Throughout them, he emphasized that being publicly Catholic isn’t as hard as one might think.

“Being Catholic in the modern world does not require complicated explanations of the faith more often than not,” he said. “The more simple, charitable and patient that you’ll be, the better.”

Referring to the pressure that Catholics and other Christians in the Holy Land and broader Arab world have experienced recently, Madrid encouraged his listeners to appreciate the freedoms they have here in the U.S.

“We can practice our faith freely,” Madrid said. “We don’t have to worry about going to Mass and having our church blown up as our brothers and sisters in [Egypt] so recently encountered. We don’t have to worry about being imprisoned or killed for professing our faith. What a wonderful blessing we have.

“But let’s not take it for granted. Things could change. And I think it’s so important that we not only know what we believe and why we believe it, but also have that courage of conviction so that we’re willing and able to share that with other people.”

Although Catholics in the Holy Land have more difficulty practicing their faith than those in the U.S., Father Peter said he is confident that the FFHL is doing much to help them remain and prosper there.

He spoke about this in light of a verse from the Book of Proverbs: “Commit your work to the Lord, and then you will succeed” (Prv 16:23).

“How true that was when the Franciscan Foundation began some 15 years ago the mission to stem the Christian exodus from the Holy Land,” Father Peter said. “And because we dedicate this mission to God and to his people in the Holy Land, let me tell you it has been greatly successful.”

(For more information about the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, log on to www.ffhl.org.) †