Pope Francis was the leader Palestinian Christians needed

 

From war-torn Gaza to the occupied West Bank, we are grateful for what he did on earth to champion the oppressed

Not long ago, my cousin in Palestine located our grandfather’s baptismal certificate, which states that he was baptised in a church in his Palestinian village in 1885.  

He lived an incredible life, witnessing two world wars and a sequence of Arab-Israeli wars, including Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. A farmer who rode on horseback and rolled his own cigarettes, he contentedly cultivated his land and nurtured his olive trees - never leaving Palestine, even as several of his children migrated to the United States. 

I’m grateful to have this documentation and the certificate of his baptism, especially since Palestinian existence is always under attack. 

For Palestinian Christians, it’s both laughable and offensive when people try to erase our community’s presence in Palestine. 

Palestinian Christians are an important minority who have been betrayed not by Palestinian Muslims, but by Christian leaders around the globe. This is why the passing of Pope Francis hits us especially hard, because he was a rare western Christian leader who recognised and acknowledged our existence, both lovingly and compassionately.  (more...)

Pope Francis was the leader Palestinian Christians needed