Entitled ‘The land loved by Jesus’, the exhibition will be heading to Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.

Newsdesk (July 28, 2021, 4:50 PM, Gaudium Press) With the goal of making the holy places known through photographs from the archive of the Custody of the Holy Land, a traveling exhibition entitled ‘The land loved by Jesus’ has been created and will be destined for Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.

According to the creator of the exhibition, Friar Noor Tamas, the initiative intends to be a response to the desire of Christians in the Middle East who dream of being able to visit the land of Jesus but cannot do so for political reasons.

Trying to show a bit of the Holy Land

The religious explains that “many people do not have the possibility to look for information online about the holy places, so our task is to try to bring them a little bit of the Holy Land, there where they live: this time we chose to do it through images.”

This photographic exhibition was created from the reading of various guides and sources. The texts were written with the collaboration of Friar George and Johnny Jallouf. The photographs that make up the exhibition were taken from the archives of the Custody of the Holy Land and from the personal or parish archives of various friars in Jerusalem, Syria, and Lebanon.

An instrument to announce the Good News

The project was born as a small photographic collection of the most significant places of Christianity. But it ended up becoming something of a history of the life of the Franciscans and an instrument to announce the Good News.

The first panels tell the story of the Custody, of the Order, and of St. Francis himself, in addition to the work of the friars in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. “Telling our life becomes also an opportunity to announce to those who feel the call to follow in the footsteps of St. Francis and live our missionary charism,” explains Friar Noor.

Overview of the service of the Custody of the Holy Land

Throughout the exhibition, the Shrines connected to the Annunciation, Resurrection, Visitation, birth, work, and daily life of Jesus are presented. Four panels provide an overview of the service of the Custody of the Holy Land.

The first is dedicated to the service of the Franciscans in the parishes of Lebanon, the second to the Shrine of St. Paul in Syria and the other parishes, the third to the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo in Jordan, the fourth provides numerical data of the service of the Custody of the Holy Land. (EPC)

Compiled by Sarah Gangl