Archbishop Sends Letter of Solidarity to Christians in Gaza

|PIC1|The Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool has sent a letter of prayerful support to Christians in Gaza in light of the recent violent clashes and killings in Gaza.

Intensive fighting over the last few weeks saw the Palestinian Islamist faction Hamas take control of the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 100 people dead and hundreds more injured.

The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Rev Patrick Kelly, has since sent a letter expressing his solidarity Christians in Gaza to Fr Manuel Musallam, parish priest in Gaza.

In the letter, the Archbishop of Liverpool reflected on his recent visit to Gaza in January.

"Reading the account in the Acts of the Apostles of Philip's journey from Jerusalem towards Gaza, and his evangelising of Jesus, based on the suffering servant song from the prophet Isaiah, will never be the same for me again since I visited Gaza in January with bishops from Europe and North America, as part of our determination to pray, reflect and walk with our Lord's followers in the Holy Land," he said.

He continued: "The vibrancy of the Christian community affected all your visitors deeply. I know I write in the name of them all and the Roman Catholics in this country to assure you that Gaza has been held constantly in prayer in these days.

"For myself there is the constant clash of images: the children of Gaza, who greeted us with song and dancing, and the violent images of civil strife, fear and cries of revenge."

Archbishop Kelly's letter late last week coincided with a warning from aid agencies that a "major humanitarian crisis" would emerge in Gaza unless Israel eased cargo blockades.

At present, only the Kerem Shalom crossing is open for aid deliveries but is limited to a capacity of 15 trucks per day. The aid agencies, including the UN's World Food Programme, are appealing to the Israeli authorities to reopen the Karni crossing which can manage 200 trucks per day.

In a news briefing, Simon Pluess of the WFP said: "The needs are growing ... Therefore food and other humanitarian supplies have to continue to enter Gaza if a major humanitarian crisis is to be averted."

Earlier last week, the WFP warned that vital food stocks, including flour, rice and food oil, would start to run out in two to four weeks unless the Karni crossing was reopened.

Pluess warned, however, that it was "quite unlikely" that the Karni crossing would reopen soon because recent looting by Palestinians had left it in need of repair.