Dear Mary

We are saddened by the news from the Middle East, see below for some useful information and Pope Francis’ call to prayer.

You can read more here about our work in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and Israel and what we have heard this week from our partner, Caritas Jerusalem. You can also find information about our Israeli-Palestinian Crisis Appeal, our prayers for peace, and our invitation to email the Foreign Secretary.  

Pope Francis has invited everyone to a day of prayer, fasting, and penance for peace on Friday, 27 October.

You may like to share our prayer for peace in the Middle East with your parish on your parish Facebook or a parish WhatsApp group in readiness for participating in this day. (Top tip: after you open this prayer image, save as a photo on your phone or right click and save as a JPEG if you are on a computer and then you can share it on social media or attach it to an email.)  

P.S. We have set up an Israeli-Palestinian Crisis appeal so that we can provide urgent, practical help to the families who need it, as soon as it’s safe to do so. We are not yet asking parishes to hold collections for this appeal but if there is interest in your parish in the coming weeks, we have prepared a printable poster that you could put on a parish noticeboard to let people in your parish know they can donate online.

Thank you for your prayers and your support in your parish.

Best wishes

Jenny Hayward-Jones
Fundraising Volunteer Programme Coordinator
CAFOD