When the conflict in the Holy Land began, he was still in Rome. Still, he traveled to Jerusalem every two months to film and record his programs for the Christian Media Center, the Custody’s communications channel.

Now, in this interview, he tells us about his experience of the war in Gaza and shares his longing and excitement about welcoming pilgrims to Israel.

The conflict in the Holy Land

Father Marwan, always very close to the CARF Foundation, tells us how a Catholic experienced the conflict in Israel: “First of all, I would like to clarify that the conflict did not begin between the Palestinians and the Israelis; it was between Hamas and the Israelis, which is different.”

As a Catholic Christian, he experienced the whole situation with anxiety with great fear, not knowing what his future would be like because of this war. But what he also has to say is that being Catholic or Christian in Israel is no different from being of any other religion.

Marwan was born in Jerusalem in 1974 into an ecumenical family (his father was Orthodox and his mother Catholic). He was baptized by the Melkites because his mother’s uncle was a Melkite priest. He later studied at a prestigious Anglican school in Jerusalem.

Father Marwan, an Israeli citizen, of Palestinian Arab ethnicity, a Christian, and raised among various faiths and rites, gives him a unique authority to explain the idiosyncrasies of the different faiths in the Holy Land.

Bridge Builders for Peace

“When there is a war, we all experience its consequences, and we all suffer in the same way. The only difference, what we Catholic Christians in the Holy Land tried to do in times of conflict, is to do our best to be bridge builders for peace,” he affirms.

This commitment and mission of all Christians in Jerusalem, even if they are a minority, are rooted in his heart. “No matter how many of us there are, what matters is what we do and how we do it. We are bridge builders of peace between the different ethnicities, religions, and nationalities of the population of the Holy Land. Quality makes the difference,” says the Franciscan priest.

Pilgrims after the ceasefire

And now, after the ceasefire, what are you yearning for? What can pilgrims expect? Among the pilgrimages organized by the CARF Foundation, one is to the holy sites, which, for the time being and due to the situation, has been postponed.

Recently, Father Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Places, and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierre Batista Pizzaballa, appealed to pilgrims to return with confidence to visit the Land of Jesus.

“Of course they did, because they know the holy places are still there, and the people of the Holy Land are still waiting for Christian pilgrims from all over the world to visit them,” asserts Father Marwan.

Pilgrims, a great consolation

Father Marwan insists that the danger of conflict has passed and that, after more than a year of war, the Christians of the Holy Land, the living stones, eagerly await the arrival of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to welcome them and be in union with them as brothers of the same Church.

“And I must also say that pilgrims who come to the holy places will encounter the suffering of their people because of the war, but I assure you that their presence will be a great comfort to all, Christians and non-Christians alike.”

Feeling the Presence of the Universal Church

Father Marwan is very clear about something. Right now, one of the most urgent needs of Christians in Israel is to feel part of the universal Church.

“You know, sometimes we talk about how we need financial funding, more justice and peace, even psychological support. But in this post-war era, I think the most important thing for the Holy Land and its people is the international presence of the universal Church in the midst of chaos.

I think that presence and being there is what we really need urgently in the Holy Land. The more Christian pilgrims are present in the land of salvation, the more the universal Church will be present with them.”

Let us hope that this call to pilgrimage to the holy places, especially this year during the Jubilee of Hope, will be a reality that brings great comfort to Christians.