Letter from: Kathie Uhler, OSF

   Greetings in the New Year!

   In late September I emailed the first House of Prayer Update.  I welcome persons new on the email list to Update #2 and thank others of you for your interest in the project early on. I had been waiting for some breakthrough before writing the second Update and, finally, it has come to pass, in several ways.

   To give evidence for this new stage in the development of the project, allow me to begin by saying that by late November, after dates had been set for some other commitments, I felt I could block out a two-month period for a trip to Palestine to scout locations for the House of Prayer and for a residence for the hosting Core Group.

   Fortunately, as a reservist member of Christian Peacemaker Teams, I was able to get a great deal through their travel agent on a flight to Tel Aviv from February 3 to March 24, 2014. I also arranged to stay for the first month at the convent of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, at their guest house in Jerusalem. I had often stayed there in the past. In the second month, I will have lodgings at The House of Bread, a guest house located just off Manger Square in Bethlehem. I have often stayed there with the owner, a Palestinian pastor, and his family.

   The most key event to report to you of these past many weeks was a visit with His Eminence Theodore McCarrick, Cardinal Emeritus of Washington, DC. I was honored by the Cardinal's invitation to discuss the HOP proposal with him. This occurred on December 9. The Cardinal's advice was founded on his many years of work on behalf of human rights and religious freedom, especially in the Middle East. Among many wide-ranging responsibilities for the Catholic Church and society, His Eminence served for many years on the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples. He has visited many nations as a human rights advocate, and in 1996 he was invited to serve on the U.S. Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad. From 1999 to 2001, His Eminence was a member of the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom. In 2000, he was honored by the presidents of Lebanon and the United States for his work on human rights.

   The Cardinal offered his advice on several major points:

• First in importance: His Eminence fully supports the proposal and is graciously permitting me to use his name.
• He advised that the HOP focus on the Abrahamic religions or "the three religions of the Book":  Islam, Judaism and Christianity, as a start. I am adopting this suggestion. Some of you may recall that this was my original focus.
• To this end, the Cardinal advised me to contact the Council of Religious Institutes of the Holy Land in Jerusalem. This group consists of the chief leaders of Judaism, Islam and Christianity, with whom the Cardinal has worked over the years. He gave me a contact with the Council. Relatedly in importance, he also suggested I be in touch with the Custos of the Franciscan Order in Jerusalem.
• He advised me further to seek collaboration with Bethlehem University in Bethlehem. From my past years in Palestine, I have enjoyed a close connection with the De La Salle Christian Brothers there.

   I should be able to make these and other contacts while I am in the region in February and March. God willing. 

   For example, there are some other relevant contacts with whom I have had experience in recent years:

• the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land
• the prioress of the Monastery of the Sisters of Bethlehem in Israel, where I spent days of retreat many times; and the Comboni Mission Sisters, whom I have met at their retreat center in Bethany. I am eager to learn from these sisters how they have conducted a spiritual ministry in these difficult times.
• The Tent of Nations, near Bethlehem; a Palestinian-owned, cross-cultural farming mission to build peace and reconciliation, since 1992.

   Other very positive new information regarding the project:

• A woman with whom I am on a parish committee, Leila Araiche, has volunteered to work on the project, e.g. on fundraising.
• My Christian Peacemaker Teams Hebron teammate, Dianne Roe, a charter member of the CPT Hebron Team from 1995, has confirmed that she wants to help me scout the location for the HOP in the West Bank.
• Phyllis Bennis, of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC, has offered to review HOP written materials from her secular standpoint as a Middle East expert and a long-standing non-violent peace activist.

   At this time I would like to invite each of you to consider how you might participate further in the project to establish the House of Prayer.  I wish to extend the ownership and excitement of this project along these lines:

 Ways to Participate in the House of Prayer

• Testimonial - a written statement of support for the HOP from a person in a relevant field of expertise
• Advisory Board - advises the executive director periodically in the establishment and maintenance of the HOP
• Executive Team - small group, available "on call" to work closely with the executive director                                                                               
• Core Group - host group of 3 members living at/near the HOP; formation program required;  9 in group  
• Finance/Fundraising Committee - advice and activities; periodic electronic meetings                               
• Sponsorship - commitment to a recurring, financial donation 
• Contact - person interested in receiving email updates; open to providing services occasionally

   Please feel free to contact me for further details on the various ways to participate in the HOP project.

   It is my hope that, once the HOP location and residence for the Core Group are determined, the preparation for the Core Group may be arranged and a timeline for the opening of the HOP set. I will send periodic Updates in the coming months.

   I look forward to hearing from each of you. Please feel free to contact me at any time:   kathieuhler@earthlink.net.

   I trust in your prayers continuing for guidance in this effort "to bring religion into the equation" of peacemaking in the Middle East.