wfn.org | Pope Telephones Friars Inside Bethlehem Nativity Church

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For more information:
Fr. Raed Abusahlia
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
P.O.Box  14152 - Jerusalem 97500
E-mail address: latinpat@actcom.co.il

BETHLEHEM, April 16, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Pope John Paul II spoke on the
telephone today with the Franciscan friars confined in Bethlehem's Basilica
of the Nativity, to express his solidarity and to thank them for their
"Christian witness."

The call came during the Pope's meeting Monday with Latin Patriarch Michel
Sabbah of Jerusalem.

Father Ibrahim Faltas, the basilica's custodian, received a telephone call
from Patriarch Sabbah, who said he was in the Holy Father's presence,
according to the news service Zenit.org.  The patriarch told the Franciscan
that the Holy Father wished to speak with him to give him a message for his
companions.

More than 30 Franciscans have been confined in the monastery of the basilica
ever since the church was invaded April 2 by 200 Palestinians and then
besieged by Israeli troops.

"Courage!" the Pope said, according to Father Faltas. "Continue the
resistance and custody of the holy places."

News of the papal phone call was confirmed in a brief statement by Joaqumn
Navarro-Valls, director of the Vatican Press Office.

"Speaking with Father Ibrahim, the Pope thanked them for their Christian
witness, sending them his blessing at this particularly difficult time," a
press office statement said.

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