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Conference of Middle Eastern bishops in the Vatican


The annual meeting of the CELRA (Conference of Latin Bishops from the Arab Regions) took place in the Vatican from November 16 to 19, 2009.

 
The CELRA was founded in 1963, during the Second Vatican Council. The Conference includes many countries in the Middle East and also Israel. The participants in the meetings are usually 13 bishops and vicars for the Roman Catholic (Latin) Church. The Patriarch of Jerusalem is the President of the Conference and with him members include his five vicars: the bishop from Nazareth (for Israel), the bishop from Amman (for Jordan), the bishop from Jerusalem, the vicar from Nicosia (for Cyprus) and the vicar for the Hebrew speaking community. In addition, the members of the conference include the bishops of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, the Arabian Gulf, Kuwait, Egypt and Djibouti.


This year, all the bishops and vicars participated except for the Bishop of Egypt. They discussed the situation of their communities at length and also heard from top officials in the Church in Rome, like the secretary of the Oriental Churches Congregation and the Cardinal in charge of dialogue with the Muslims. The participants were also brought up to date with the plans for the Synod for the Middle East that is due to take place next October (2010) in the Vatican.

On Wednesday, November 18, the participants were present in the Pope's General Audience. After the homily of the Pope, each CELRA participant could approach the Pope and exchange a few words with him. The Pope welcomed Father David, the Vicar for the Hebrew speaking community with the promise that he prays for our communities.

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