Foundation fundraising dinner supports Church in Holy Land
Mike LeCuyer, second from right, regional chairman of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land and a member of St. John Vianney Parish in Fishers, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, presents a gift to Franciscan Father Peter Vasko at the J.W. Mariott hotel in Indianapolis during a March 22 foundation fundraising dinner, which in part celebrated the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the foundation. Looking on are dinner organizers Mike Hirsch, left, and Richard Sontag, right, both members of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)
By Sean Gallagher
The places where Jesus walked, taught, suffered, died and rose again may be halfway around the world from Indiana. But Catholics from across the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the Lafayette Diocese came together on March 22 to show their strong support for the Church there.
The occasion was a fundraising dinner for the Franciscan Foundation of the Holy Land (FFHL) at the J.W. Marriott hotel in Indianapolis.
The dinner also celebrated the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the foundation, which works to offer educational, employment and housing opportunities to Palestinian Christians so that they can stay there and not move away as so many have done over the past century.
According to the foundation, Christians made up approximately 13 percent of the population of the Holy Land at the turn of the 20th century. Because of conflicts, a decimated economy and pressure put on them by Muslim and Jewish groups, that number has now dropped to about 1 percent.
Nearly 250 people attended the dinner, which raised approximately $170,000.
Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin attended the gathering, and described it as “a marvelous opportunity for us Hoosiers to show solidarity with the Franciscans and all of their workers who are guaranteeing that we will be able to go on pilgrimage and pray where our Lord Jesus saved the world.”
Franciscan Father Peter Vasko, founder and president of the FFHL, told dinner attendees of the current persecution of Christians by rebel groups tied to Al Qaeda in the ongoing civil war in Syria.
“They have told our priests and our people to take the crosses off of the walls,” Father Peter said. “No more bells. Women have to wear the full headdress. And you do not go to church. They now have to pay a special tax.
“Peace may seem to be elusive. But in spite of the turmoil, we are having constant success with our various programs and in ministering to the people in the Holy Land, especially in the area of education.”
Among those successes, Father Peter announced that 38 Palestinian Christians began their college education last fall with scholarships awarded by the FFHL. Over the past 20 years, 261 such scholarships have been awarded and nearly all of the recipients are still living and working as professionals in the Holy Land.
He also told of the Children Without Borders initiative of the foundation, which brings together Christian, Muslim and Jewish children in athletic leagues in eight cities in the Holy Land to increase mutual understanding and respect.
Father Peter also noted how the foundation supports primary and secondary education in the Holy Land through the Franciscan’s Terra Sancta Schools.
The dinner’s keynote speaker, Franciscan Father Marwan Di’des, could have easily reflected just on the work of the Terra Sancta Schools and the Franciscan Boys Home in Bethlehem that he directs.
And while he did explain the importance of these and other FFHL-supported ministries, Father Marwan shared how the foundation has touched the life of his own family.
A decade ago, a brother of his was shot and killed in a Palestinian uprising while delivering medicine to the West Bank town of Jenin.
Another brother of his, however, gives him hope. He received an FFHL college scholarship, later worked for the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem and now seeks to help people in need in the Palestinian territories with a Jerusalem-based non-governmental organization.
“It’s not about scholarships,” Father Marwan said. “You can get a scholarship from anywhere. It’s about caring about the people, about the presence of the Christians in the Holy Land. It’s about giving them a better future.”
Born in Jerusalem in 1974, Father Marwan has ministered at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, at a parish in that city and in Bethlehem for the past decade.
In the schools and the other ministries that he helps direct, Father Marwan said that the emphasis is placed more on formation than information.
“It’s about the formation,” he said, “how to help them understand better their presence and their mission in the Holy Land.”
Central to that mission, Father Marwan said, is helping the young people in his care know their Christian identity and how to live well with people of other faiths.
“It’s about accepting others,” he said. “This is what we’re trying to do in the Terra Sancta Schools.”
Forming young students in this way, he continued, will help them to make a difference in the society of the Holy Land, despite the small Christian population there.
“This is what we teach our students. You have to make a difference,” Father Marwan said. “And how do you make a difference? Exactly by living [like] Jesus Christ and by living his message. Live it peacefully. Live without violence. Live it with love. Accept others, and know that Jesus Christ went to the cross for everybody.”
Dan Mathis, a member of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis, was moved to attend the dinner after having made two FFHL-organized Holy Land pilgrimages, which he said deepened his life of faith.
“Every time I hear the word [of God], I can relate to some place that I’ve been, whether it be the Sea of Galilee or Capernaum or the Mount of Beatitudes or Jerusalem,” Mathis said. “All of those experiences have just deepened my understanding and response to the word [of God].”
Dinner attendee Patti Shaw, a member of St. Alphonsus Liguori Parish in Zionsville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, has also made a Holy Land pilgrimage and was moved by her experience to support the Church there.
“I think we have to support them,” Shaw said. “I don’t think that people here in Indiana understand how challenged they are. Every single day their faith is being challenged physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
“The things that we take for granted—going to Mass when we want, participating in any part of our Catholic faith—is not the case for the people living right there in the Holy Land.”
(For more information about the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, log on to www.ffhl.org.) †
