The Collection “Pro Terra Sancta” was born out of the desire of the Popes to maintain a strong bond between the faithful across the world and the Holy Places. It is the main source of material support for Christian life in the Holy Land and a tool for the universal Church to express solidarity with the ecclesial communities of the Middle East. With the Apostolic Exhortation ‘Nobis in Animo’ (25 March 1974), Pope Saint Paul VI gave a significant impulse to supporting the Holy Land, which he had visited during his historic pilgrimage in 1964.
Through the funds traditionally collected on Good Friday, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land is able to carry out its important mission: preserving the Sacred Places, the stones of memory, and promoting the Christian presence, the living stones, through its many pastoral, educational, welfare, health and social facilities.
See “The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches”
In February of 2025, the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, wrote to all the Bishops in the Church, asking that they become “persuasive apostles” in support of the annual “Pro Terra Sancta” collection, taken on Good Friday. I encourage you to take the time to read and prayerfully consider the full text of Cardinal Gugerotti’s letter.
If you are able to read the letter, you will see that Cardinal Gugerotti shares a lengthy quote from Pope Francis’ October 2024 “Letter to the Catholics of the Middle East.” Here, I will share just the first two sentences of that quote: “… you, brothers and sisters in Christ who dwell in the lands of which the Scriptures speak most often, are a small, defenseless flock, thirsting for peace. Thank you for what you are, thank you for wanting to remain in your lands, thank you for being able to pray and love despite everything …”
I am very conscious of and grateful for the inspiring generosity of the Church of our diocese and am aware of the sacrificial giving (of time, talent, and treasure) that supports our parishes, schools, Catholic Charities, and varied ministries on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Although Cardinal Gugerotti’s letter was written in February, I did not receive it until the end of March. I share it with you now with the hope that you may have a chance to read it before Good Friday, but also as a reminder of the varied ways in which we are united with all Christians in both celebrating and sharing in the Paschal Mysteries of our Lord’s suffering, death and Resurrection. As many of us will participate in the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion at 3 p.m. on Good Friday and also “walk” the way of the Cross by participating in the “Stations,” it can be said that we are all “in Jerusalem, in the Holy Land” on Good Friday and throughout the Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.
We know and believe that by our sharing in our Lord’s suffering, death and Resurrection, suffering and death are not “the end,” but they lead us to Resurrection and new Life. We meditate on this mystery in a particular way this Jubilee Year as “Pilgrims of Hope.” As our thoughts and prayers lead us to the Holy Land in these days, we know that Christians and many others are suffering because of conflict, division, war, and violence. Cardinal Gugerotti eloquently reminds us that our sisters and brothers who are suffering have not lost their hope, as he writes:
“We have witnessed tears, despair, and destruction everywhere. Now our hope is that the defeat inflicted by death will not be its eternal victory. And our hope is renewed in seeing the Risen One, Jesus Christ our Lord, who in that very land revealed the wounds of His passion, alive.”
I ask you, once again, dear readers, to be as generous as you can be in the “Pro Terra Sancta” collection and in your support of our local and universal Church and her ministry. Please know of my gratitude and be assured of a remembrance in my daily prayers, especially at the altar. In these days, I especially pray that you, your family, and loved ones, will have a blessed and prayerful Holy Week and an Easter filled with the Joy and Peace of our Risen Lord.
