Father Massimo Fusarelli, the minister general of the Order of Friars Minor, has concluded a five-day visit to the Holy Land.
St. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscan province there in 1217, and the Holy Land’s principal shrines are entrusted to the care of the Franciscan friars.
“I found the brothers better than I thought: hurt by what is happening, but also determined to stay here,” said Father Fusarelli. “So the first word is please, brothers, stay here.”
“Stay not locked in, but stay with the people, next to the people, as you can,” he continued. “Remain as intercessors, from the Latin intercedere, to walk between God and people, in the midst of the battlefield. We are in a battlefield.”