The focus for today’s programme is the Holy Land Coordination – a week long pilgrimage made by bishops from across Europe, North America and South Africa to visit and support the local Christian communities of the Holy Land.

We are, of course, joined by our regional analyst, the international lawyer and consultant to our bishops Dr Harry Hagopian and also we’re very pleased to welcome Bishop Declan Lang, our Chair of International Affairs and the bishop who led the Holy Land delegation.

This year, the visit took place from 7 – 14 January and saw the bishops spend just over 24 hours in Gaza before returning to Bethlehem to visit the Christian community of Beit Jala and to witness the latest developments in the Cremisan Valley – more on that ‘incident’ in the podcast.

The Bishops then traveled to Amman, Jordan, to meet with Iraqi refugees and the Christian NGOs working alongside them.