N° XXXVIII APRIL 2015

The appalling beheadings of our 21 Ortho-dox Coptic brothers in Libya rightfullyinduced both worldwide shock and in-

creased fear on behalf of the Christian Faithfulin the Middle East. And the massacres arefar from over, with leadership in the Westernworld seemingly helpless or unwilling to takeeffective action.

For us believers and more, Knights and

Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, thethousands of martyrs in Syria, Iraq and Libya,might bring to mind the prescient words ofPope Francis at the Sepulchre of the Lord’sDeath and Resurrection. In that historic pil-grimage to the Holy Land last May our Popechose to mark the “culmination” of his sacredjourney “in the company of my beloved broth-er in Christ, His Holiness Bartholomaios”:

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The Easter meditationof the Grand Master

The Order in Union with the universal Church The Order and the Holy Land

The life of the Lieutenancies

Proceedings of the Grand Magisterium

IN THE FACE OF PERSECUTIONS: “LET US NOTUNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF PRAYER!” III

TWO NEW PALESTINIAN SAINTS IVEXTRAORDINARY JUBILEE DEDICATED TO

DIVINE MERCY IVMEMBERS OF THE ORDER AMONGST THE NEW

CARDINALS VFRANCIS IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BLESSED

BARTOLO LONGO, KNIGHT OF THE ORDER VTHE HOLY SHROUD, MIRROR OF THE GOSPEL

AND ICON PAINTED WITH BLOOD VI

A NEW INTERNET SITE FOR THE GRAND MAGISTERIUM VIIWHEN WE SEE THE PROJECTS FINISHED… VIIMGR SCICLUNA, KNIGHT, ARCHBISHOP OF MALTA VIIIFORTHCOMING APPOINTMENS OF THE GRAND

MAGISTERIUM VIII

THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM LOOKS AFTERTHE MIGRANTS IX

A CHRISTIAN MEDIA CENTRE TO FACILITATETHE TRANSMISSION OF NEWS FROM THEHOLY LAND X

A COMMISSION FOR THE UNIVERSITY OFMADABA XI

TO ASSIST THE CREATION OF NEWLIEUTENANCIES XII

GRAND MAGISTERIUMOF THE EQUESTRIAN ORDER

OF THE HOLY SEPULCHREOF JERUSALEM

00120 VATICAN CITYE-mail: gmag@oessh.va

II N° XXXVIII - APRIL 2015

“When Christians of different confessionssuffer together, side by side, and assist oneanother with fraternal charity, there is bornan ecumenism of suffering, an ecumenismof blood, which proves particularly powerfulnot only for those situations in which it oc-curs, but also, by virtue of the communionof the saints, for the whole Church as well.Those who kill, persecute Christians out ofhatred, do not ask if they are Orthodox orCatholics: they are Christians. The blood ofChristians is the same.”

The 21 martyrs locked arms as theymarched to their deaths, each praying, “Je-sus help me”.

Where can such Faith be found in oursoft Western Culture? Up to now, we are notfaced with anything resembling such barbar-ic challenges, but day in and day out, moralcompromises too often erode our witness tothe Living Jesus among us.

An ecumenism of suffering, an ecu-menism of blood is also being lived out inthe countless thousands of Christianrefugees in Jordan, Palestine, and so many

other places – many of their loved ones mur-dered, all because of their faith in Jesus. Theroot and source of this ecumenism, thatwhich binds us together with them in theone Christ is our sacred Baptism.

As he offered prayer at the Basilica PopeFrancis cited the relevance of that HolySepulchre for every Christian, and particu-larly, I would hold for us with special devo-tion to the empty tomb: “Each of us, every-one baptized in Christ, has spiritually risenfrom this tomb, for in baptism all of us trulybecame members of the body” of Christ.

Throughout the Easter Season, our SacredLiturgy will often call us to ponder themeaning of our Baptism into Christ and tostir up the baptismal embers of grace thatawait us in abundance.

May the ecumenism of blood and suffer-ing which we share with our brethren in theHoly Land prod us to be more convincingwitnesses to our unity with them and withall the members of Christ’s Body.

Edwin, Cardinal O’Brien

III N° XXXVIII - APRIL 2015

During the Way of the Cross at the Col-iseum, and throughout the Paschalcelebrations, the Holy Father

launched a heartfelt appeal for persecutedChristians, these “martyrs of our time, morethan in the first centuries”, crucified andkilled before our eyes in a “complicit silence”.He spoke widely for “the defense and protec-tion of our brothers and our sisters persecut-ed, exiled, killed, beheaded for the mere factof being Christians”, calling on the interna-tional community “not to look away”, “not tostand by, mute, inert, at such an unacceptablecrime, which constitutes a worrying driftaway from the most basic human rights”.

Faced with the violence against Christiansin the Middle East, Catholics, Orthodox andProtestants live a true “ecumenism of blood”.During his Lenten message, Pope Francisurged us to resist the “globalization of indif-ference” – which particularly affects thosefaithful of Christ discriminated against on theland of their ancestors – and proposed a con-crete initiative of “24 hours for the Lord”, on13 and 14 March, to show the necessity ofprayer in order that “we do not get caught upin this spiral of distress and powerlessness”as we are flooded with news reports andtroubling images of human suffering.

“We can pray in communion with theChurch on earth and in heaven. Let us notunderestimate the power of so many voicesunited in prayer!”, he insisted, in speaking ofthis initiative which was largely observed bythe dioceses, in particular with the assistanceof members of the Order of the Holy Sepul-chre who also help by acts of charity. Thanksno doubt to the permanent attention the HolyFather pays to our persecuted brethren living

in the vast area of the biblical territories,more specifically in Iraq and Syria, the UNSecurity Council recently decided to hold ameeting on the defence of Middle EasternChristians threatened with extinction,chaired by the French Minister of Foreign Af-fairs. In an interview with radio Vatican, theDirector of Aid to the Church in Need inFrance had “some reservations about these at-tractive statements” by shedding an interest-ing light on the situation: “Unfortunately, wehave to acknowledge that, for the moment,there is a kind of unanimous consensus tocontinue to support and fund all jihadist mer-cenaries in eastern Syria with the primaryaim of overthrowing Bashar al-Assad”. Re-gardless of this cynical geopolitical oppor-tunism, the Pope draws worldwide attentionto the plight of these innocent people, victimsof a real religious cleansing. Let us implorethe Lord with him that “this persecutionagainst Christians which the world tries tohide, may end”, in also thanking these broth-ers in faith for their testimony of hope.

The Order in Union with the universal Church

In the face of persecutions: “Let us notunderestimate the power of prayer!”

A family of refugees from the Middle-East whichhopes, one day, to return to the land of theirancestors (photo Aid to the Church in Need).

IV N° XXXVIII - APRIL 2015

cordiae Vultus: www.vatican.va). BlessedPaul VI, during the last session of the Sec-

ond Vatican Council, on 7December 1965, gave themerciful Samaritan as amodel for the renewal ofthe Church. “Be merciful,even as your Father ismerciful”. (Lk 6:36). Eachone will therefore havethe opportunity of re-sponding personally to thecall of Christ to live ac-cordingly in community.On the occasion of thisHoly Year, all pilgrims –including members of theOrder of the Holy Sepul-chre – will experience thisfirst through the sacra-ment of reconciliation,which will enable themthen to become the hum-

During the penitential celebration “24hours for the Lord” on Friday 13March, the Pope

gave us a surprise: on theoccasion of the second an-niversary of his electionas Bishop of Rome, he an-nounced the opening on 8December, on the Solem-nity of the ImmaculateConception, of a specialJubilee dedicated toDivine Mercy. It will rununtil Sunday 20 Novem-ber 2016, on the Feastof Christ the King. ThisJubilee requested byFrancis will start just afterthe Synod of Bishops onthe Family, and will markthe 50th anniversary ofthe closing of the SecondVatican Council (Miseri-

from the Patriarchal Diocese of Jerusalem:“They are for us our light and consolationamidst the difficulties that are ours”.

The Patriarch rejoices that the Diocese canrely on the example and the prayer of thesetwo Disciples of Christ, and thanks all thosewho have been involved in making their testi-monies known. He invites all those who can,to join in the festivities which will take placein Rome and in the Holy Land on the occa-sion of these canonizations, especially themembers of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.The reading of Mgr Twal’s very beautiful pas-toral letter entitled “On the way to holiness”at www.lpj.org, is recommended.

During the Consistory of Cardinalsgathered in Rome with Pope Francisin February, the date for the canoniza-

tion of the two Palestinian saints was an-nounced. On 17 May 2015, Sister MarieAlphonsine, foundress of the Congregation ofthe Sisters of the Rosary, and Sister Mary ofJesus Crucified, founder of the Carmel ofBethlehem, will be proclaimed saints for theChurch (see their portraits in our previousnewsletter). From Rome, the Latin Patriarchof Jerusalem, His Beatitude Fouad Twal, ex-pressed the joy of the whole Catholic com-munity of the Holy Land which rejoices atthe canonization of two Palestinian daughters

Two new Palestinian saints

Extraordinary Jubileededicated to Divine Mercy

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V N° XXXVIII - APRIL 2015

Among the new cardinals created by the Pope during the Consistory of February,four of them are members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Our prayer accom-panies them in the mission entrusted to them to support the action of the Holy Fa-

ther in the service of the universal Church. They are: the Patriarch of Lisbon, His Emi-nence Cardinal Manuel José Macário do Nascimento Clemente – Grand Prior of the Or-der in Portugal since 2013 – His Eminence Cardinal Edoardo Menichelli, Archbishop ofAncona, His Eminence Cardinal Francesco Montenegro, Archbishop of Agrigento, as wellas His Eminence Cardinal José de Jésus Pimiento Rodriguez, Emeritus Archbishop ofManizales in Colombia, absent from Rome at the time because of his great age. By a motuproprio from Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, Grand Master of the Order, dated 14 February2015, each of them is heretofore a Knight Grand Cross.

ble and joyful witnesses of this mercy. Inthis great ongoing persecution of the holyChurch from Pakistan to Nigeria throughLibya, Syria, and Iraq, the successor of Peterfeeds his sheep through the many tribula-

tions. May this Jubilee “bring comfort toevery man and every woman of our time”,as Francis hopes, by reminding us that “Godforgives all and God forgives always” (Homi-ly 13 March 2015).

During the recent trip of Francis toCampania, we liked his prayer be-fore the tomb of Blessed Bartolo

Longo, Knight of the Order of the HolySepulchre, in the Marian shrine which thisapostle of the Rosary had built near the ru-ins of ancient Pompeii, destroyed by aneruption of Vesuvius. Bartolo Longo, a con-verted lay man who went through a phase ofspiritualism, created orphanages andschools, manifesting, in this way, the socialfruitfulness of the Christian faith and itspower of love. With this spiritual patronage,the Pope urged the population of the region

to react against crime, reminding them that,for a Christian, evil never has the last word.

“A Spring of hope” rightly headlined theOsservatore Romano after the Pope’s visit toPompeii, and Naples, the hell of “Gomorra”.His meeting with the children of the verypoor area of Scampia in the Neapolitan sub-urbs touched people, as the children ran andsurrounded him, like Jesus in the Gospel.His unique ability to relate to peopletouched all hearts deeply, beyond words, dis-playing a goodness that is noiseless. “If youcannot see hope, then find it within you”,could be our synthesis of the message deliv-

Members of the Order amongstthe new Cardinals

Francis in the footstepsof Blessed Bartolo Longo,

Knight of the Order

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For those who, like the Knights andDames of the Equestrian Order of theHoly Sepulchre, root their own voca-

tion to holiness so radically in the death andresurrection of Jesus, the Shroud is an addi-tional opportunity to contemplate the infi-nite love of the Father: “For God so lovedthe world that he gave his only Son, so thateveryone who believes in him might not per-ish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).

The Shroud is, in fact, alinen cloth bearing the imageof a man who died after a se-ries of acts of torture and cru-cifixion. According to tradi-tion, this cloth is the one thatwas used to wrap the body ofJesus after He was takendown from the Cross. In avery tender and profoundway, John Paul II during hisvisit to Turin in 1998, calledthe Shroud “the mirror of theGospel”.

Benedict XVI, a pilgrim at

the 2010 exhibition, offered this explanationto what could be a simple cloth, but is, in re-ality, much more: “How does the Shroudspeak to us? It speaks with blood, and bloodis life! The Shroud is an icon painted withblood; the blood of a man scourged,crowned with thorns, crucified and wound-ed in the right side. The printed image onthe Shroud is that of a dead man, but theblood speaks of his life“.

May the exhibition of2015, at the end of thisLenten journey, be a time tomeditate again, in the joy ofEastertide, on the importanceof the Cross and the emptytomb in the life of each mem-ber of the Order.

For more information onthe organisation of the exhibi-tion which will be held from19 April to 24 June in theCathedral of Turin, pleasevisit the official website:www.sindone.org.

The Holy Shroud, mirror of theGospel and icon painted with blood

ered to the poorest inhabitants of this Italiancity stricken by unemployment and endemiccorruption.

Let us invoke Bartolo Longo, the only lay

member of the Order of the Holy Sepulchrebeatified to this day, so that his example ofprayer and charity may inspire us every dayon the way to holiness.

Pope Francis in Pompeii, in silent prayer before the body of Blessed Bartolo Longo, Knight of the HolySepulchre, servant of the poor, and Apostle of the Rosary.

VII N° XXXVIII - APRIL 2015

A new internet site forthe Grand Magisterium

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The website of the Grand Magisterium of the Order, integrated within the website of theHoly See, is now presented in a renewed format with easier navigation.(1) Another re-sult of the work undertaken by the Communication Service and the Internet Service of

the Holy See: a new website of the Grand Magisterium, more autonomous, is being developedand should be released in the autumn, on the occasion of the opening of the Jubilee of DivineMercy. The existing site will continue to provide historical information concerning the Orderand will refer to the new site – directly managed by the Communication Service of the GrandMagisterium – for everything related to current events.

(1) http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/oessh/ index_en.htm

Proceedings of the Grand Magisterium

In March the Holy Land Commission ofthe Grand Magisterium of the Order per-formed one of its regular on-site visits to

assess the progress of the projects approvedeach year by the Grand Magisterium and al-so to study the feasibility of projects for2015. As for the finished projects, it is al-ways a great joy to be able to see the posi-tive effects of the improved structures fi-

nanced in previous years. Such effects arethe smiles and the joy of these children (inthe photo) who are now in one of the newclassrooms of the Institute in Mafraq, wherebuilding works took place last year to add anadditional floor level.

During these visits, the members of theCommission – composed of the PresidentThomas McKiernan (USA), Heinrich

When we seethe projects finished…

The on-site visit of the Holy Land Commission in March

VIII N° XXXVIII - APRIL 2015

Dickmann (Germany) and BartholomewMcGettrick (Scotland) – do not miss theopportunity of meeting all the peoplewho work on a daily basis with the localChristian communities. During the Marchvisit, the Commission met Mgr GiuseppeLazzarotto, Apostolic Nuncio in Israel,Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of theHoly Land, and Claudio Maina, Director of

the Secretariat of Solidarity for the HolyLand.

In Tel Aviv, the Commission was also ableto meet with the Jesuit Father DavidNeuhaus who talked to them about the im-portant work which is taking place withinthe Hebrew-speaking Catholic community inconnection with the integration of migrantsand asylum seekers.

Mgr Scicluna, Knight,Archbishop of Malta

When he was Auxil-iary Bishop ofMalta, Mgr Charles

Jude Scicluna received the in-vestiture from the handsof the Grand Master of theOrder on 17 December 2014,in the chapel of the GrandMagisterium in the PalaceDella Rovere (our photo). Hewas appointed Archbishop ofMalta on 3 March by PopeFrancis. We entrust his pas-toral intentions and those ofhis diocese with such a richhistorical and spiritual her-itage to the intercession ofthe Blessed Virgin Mary,Queen of Palestine.

Forthcoming Appointmensof the Grand Magisterium

The spring meeting of the Grand Magisterium will be held in Rome, at the Palace DellaRovere on 21 and 22 April 2015. It will include the report of the President of the HolyLand Commission on projects completed or underway. The Meeting of European Lieu-

tenants will take place on 11 and 12 May, whilst the Meeting of the American Lieutenants willtake place in Quebec from 4 to 6 June 2015. Our next newsletter will report on these three im-portant events in the life of the Order.

IX N° XXXVIII - APRIL 2015

Father Neuhaus, one of your re-sponsibilities is to coordinate thepastoral care of migrants in Is-

rael. On 9 May 2015 the ApostolicNuncio will preside at a Mass in hon-our of Our Lady Woman of Valour inthe Centre for Mi-grants of whichmembers of the Or-der generously con-tributed to its con-struction. Under thepreferential optionfor the poor, which isthe heart of the mis-sion of the Church,how can this eventbe described as his-torical?We have decided to in-

stitute a feast each year on10 May (or the Saturdayclosest to it). Our LadyWoman of Valour is a rep-resentation of Our Lady asprotector of the migrantsin Israel. This is the nameof our new Pastoral Cen-tre, opened in February2014, and largely funded by the EquestrianOrder of the Holy Sepulchre. The icon writ-ten for the centre says it all: Our Lady gath-ers all the migrants under her cloak. Manyof these migrants are strong women who

have been forced to abandon their homesand families in order to support them finan-cially. This 9 May, the Saturday closest to 10May, the Nuncio in Israel, Mgr GiuseppeLazzarotto will celebrate this feast for thefirst time. We hope that this will be the occa-

sion to show that theChurch of Jerusalem isdeeply concerned withthese faithful, migrantworkers and asylum seek-ers, and she gathers themto console them, encour-age them and speak outfor them.

The small Hebrew-speaking Catholiccommunity ofwhich you are thesenior pastor, con-sisting of about 800people, is very com-mitted to the serviceof the many migrantCatholics who forma larger community,which is also He-brew speaking but

of precarious status. They share the dai-ly realities of the predominantly JewishIsraeli society. Can you describe the rela-tionship between the two communitiesthat share the same faith in Christ, and

The Order and the Holy Land

The Church in JerusalemLooks after the Migrants

An interview with Father David Neuhaus, Jesuit,Patriarchal Vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel,

and Coordinator of the Pastoral care of migrants

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Icon of Our Lady Woman of Valour,protector of the migrants in Israel.

tell us how the presence of migrants inIsrael has evolved since the 90s?

Today, in Israel, within Jewish Israeli He-brew speaking society, there are two com-munities of Catholics. There is a small anddiverse community of Catholics who are citi-zens. Most of them are related to Jews(spouses of Jews, children of Jews) and oth-ers are Jewish converts to Catholicism orCatholics who live within Jewish society be-cause of their work or mission. They num-ber about 600 to 800 people, spread out inseven parish communities principally in thebig cities of Israel.

There is another group of Catholics,much larger in number, which lives in thissame milieu. About 60 – 70 000 Catholic mi-

grant workers and asylum seekers, predomi-nantly Asian and African, they are not citi-zens but long term residents. Although theyspeak only a little Hebrew to facilitate theirwork, and they pray in their mother tongues(Tagalog, Konkani, Sinhala, Malayalam, andTigrinya), their children are Hebrew speak-ers, born and raised in Hebrew speakingJewish society. The Hebrew speakingCatholic communities are called to reach outto this huge Catholic population, sharing thefew resources they have and educating theirchildren.

All the Hebrew speaking communities arenow deeply engaged in reaching out to themigrant communities.

Interview by François Vayne

A Christian Media Centre tofacilitate the transmissionof news from the Holy Land

On 18 December, during the Christmas Press Conference of the Latin Patriarch ofJerusalem, the new Christian Media Centre, requested by the Assembly of CatholicOrdinaries of the Holy Land, was presented. Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of

the Holy Land, explained that this Centre “despite many difficulties, is designed to be an in-centive to fulfil the expectations of the world as regards the message of the Holy Places andbring an increased awareness on the reality of the on-going situation, avoiding any form ofpartiality”. This new Centre, run by the Custody, but available to all Christian Churches inJerusalem, also plans to coordinate and support the various Christian Media which alreadycover news on the Holy Land and which work on site.

The PastoralCentre formigrants,

built throughthe

generosity ofthe Order.

XI N° XXXVIII - APRIL 2015

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Fouad Twal gratefully accepted theinitiative of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See to establish an ad hoc Commis-sion to ensure the optimal development of the American University of Madaba in

Jordan, and its full contribution to society in the coming years. The Commission has fullautonomy of action in accordance with Jordanian law. It works closely with the Latin Pa-triarchate of Jerusalem, sponsor of the project and owner of the University, and reportsdirectly to the Secretary of State. Professor Agostino Borromeo, Governor General of theOrder of the Holy Sepulchre, was invited to form this Commission and coordinate itswork. The Commission officially received its mandate from the Secretary of State, andbegan its work in November 2014. It went to Jordan and defined the outline of its workin the following three main areas:

- Financial stability, viability and integrity of the University,- Governance and administrative structures of the University,- Academic Planning of the University.To achieve these objectives, the Commission established a local Administrative Com-

mittee to monitor and coordinate the work of the University until July 2015, a periodduring which permanent arrangements will be put in place. Further planning will alsotake place to ensure the academic development of the University.

A commission forthe University of Madaba

XII N° XXXVIII - APRIL 2015

”Our young and small Lieutenancycannot boast of a greater or longerexperience than other Lieutenan-

cies. However, either directly or indirectly,we have been involved in a process that ledto the creation of some of the other EuropeanLieutenancies.

On the basis of this experience, we believethat two main factors contribute to the cre-ation of a Lieutenancy: a sufficient number ofpotential candidates wishing to join the Or-der, and the support of another Lieutenancywhich is active and works well.

Our Lieutenancy was founded in Novem-ber 2003 by the Grand Master at the time,Cardinal Carlo Furno. The whole process wassupervised by Bo Theutenberg, who was thenLieutenant for Sweden and is now a memberof the Grand Magisterium. Our colleagues inEngland and Wales greatly helped us by giv-ing of their time to meet us and teach us howto run a Lieutenancy of the Order. Our Eng-lish colleagues also organized our first in-vestiture ceremony in Stockholm, which tookplace in September 2004 with His BeatitudeMichel Sabbah, Grand Prior of the Order atthat time.

At the beginning, Norwegian memberswere also invested in our Swedish Lieutenan-cy. Very quickly however, with the increasingnumber of suitable candidates, our dynamicand dedicated Norwegian colleagues wereable to create their own Magisterial Delega-tion.

Then, since two members of our Lieu-tenancy were of Croatian origin, we took the

initiative several years ago to found a newMagisterial Delegation in Croatia, a countrywhere some four million Catholics live. Thisinitiative was entrusted to the Archbishop ofZagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanic, five years agoand we are hoping that this process will soonlead to the creation of a new group of the Or-der in this country, the fatherland of BlessedCardinal Aloysius Stepinac, Knight of theHoly Sepulchre.

At present, our Lieutenancy is helpingDanish Catholics to found a Lieutenancy intheir own country. For many years we hadbeen looking for suitable candidates to formthe basic structure of the future Lieutenancy.Last year, an historic investiture ceremonytook place in Stockholm: two new Danishmembers joined the Order. The next investi-ture of the Swedish Lieutenancy will takeplace in Copenhagen, Denmark, with moreDanish candidates.

Finally, we are proud to mention that ourLieutenancy also supported the creation ofthe Magistral Delegation of the Czech Repub-lic, thanks to the personal involvement of ourLieutenant, Stefan Ahrenstedt with Mgr JanGraubner, the current Grand Prior and DrJiri Porízka, our present Magistral Delegate.

In conclusion, we can say that several newLieutenancies were created thanks to the per-sonal initiative and the commitment of themembers of the Order. The two critical fac-tors for the success of this process are firstlya sufficient number of potential membersand secondly the support of another Lieu-tenancy”.

To assist the creationof new Lieutenancies

The life of the Lieutenancies

We invite Lieutenancies to send us an account of how their members experiencedHoly Week and celebrated Easter. Contact us to share your experiences in our next

Summer 2015 Newsletter: comunicazione@oessh.va

Testimony of the Swedish Lieutenancy