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Bishop Marcuzzo visits the parish of Eilat |
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Wednesday, 18 February 2009 |
Monsignor Boulos Marcuzzo, Latin Patriarchal Vicar in Israel visited the Latin parish of Eilat on Saturday, February 7th 2009, where Fr. Slavomir Aframovitch, parish priest of Eilat church resides there, accompanied by Fr. Elie Kurzum.
The parish of Eilat is distinguished by the several nationalities of its parishioners. There are some Arab families from Galilee, in addition to a number of Russians, as well as many foreign workers from Philippine and South America. The strange thing to notice is the presence of hundred of Christian Sudanese arriving from Darfur and South of Sudan.His Eminence, Bishop Marcuzzo has celebrated a mass, attended by 230 Christians, where Monsignor granted, with great joy, the Sacrament of Baptism to three Sudanese children.In his homily, Bishop Marcuzzo transferred greetings and love from H.B Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and assured the community fraternal solidarity among all.
A meeting with the Sudanese community
Bishop Marcuzzo met the Christians of the Sudanese Community living in Eilat and checked on their situation.His Eminence addressed the community with a word of encouragement to uphold their faith and heritage, as well as to adapt to new circumstances, raising the banner of hope to unravel the problems in Sudan, so that everyone will return to his home country.It is worth noted that there are around 5000 Sudanese; two thousands of them are living in Eilat, while another two thousands are situated in Jaffa Tell Aviv, and one thousand are located in the region of Beersheba.The origins of these refugees are from Darfur and South of Sudan, who migrated from their country and went through the Sinai desert on the way to Israel two years ago, under the mandate of the United Nations, and now they are suffering from difficult situation at various levels of humanitarian, social, educational, and religious. |
