Holy land plea by Burnley diplomat (From Burnley and Pendle Citizen)

Holy land plea by Burnley diplomat

11:45am Friday 2nd November 2012 in Burnley By Peter Magill, Chief reporter

A LEADING diplomat has returned home to Burnley to urge churchgoers across East Lancashire to pray for Christians in the Holy Land.

Sir Vincent Fean, Consul-General of Jerusalem, was speaking at St John the Baptist Church in Burnley, at an awareness drive for Friends of the Holy Land.

The former St Theodore’s RC student is hoping to establish a Blackburn Diocese chapter of the campaigning group.

Just 200,000 Christians remain in Israel and the West Bank, he told the congregation, and they facing a number of hardships.

He said: “Many suffer from restricted ability to travel, very high unemployment, poverty, lack of social services, poor living conditions, lack of food and the stress of present and future uncertainty.

“This is the price they are paying for continuing to live in the Holy Land.”

The new friends group has been established to raise awareness of their plight, offer social support through food and medicines and training and employment opportunities for young and old alike.

High-profile supporters already include the Patriarch of Jerusalem and Anglican and Roman Catholic Bishops across the UK.

Sir Vincent is a former High Commissioner in Malta and Libyan ambassador and is responsible for promoting British interests in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

If anyone is interested in finding out more about the friends organisation, or becoming involved in setting up a diocesan group, they can contact Father Michael Waters, at St John’s, on 01282 423824.

Sir Vincent was also recently made an honorary fellow of the University of Central Lancashire in a ceremony at their Burnley campus.