Jordan inaugurates the Church of the Baptism, a sign of peace in the Middle East
Card Pietro Parolin will preside over the solemn ceremony as papal legate on 10 January. The structure stands on land in the Wadi al-Kharrar area donated by King Abdullah II where the Franciscan archaeologist Michele Piccirillo excavated some of the churches built by the first Christian communities to remember the Gospel story, whose two-thousandth anniversary will be celebrated here in 2030.
Amman (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Jordan’s Catholic community is preparing to experience a very important moment with the solemn inauguration of the Church of the Baptism of Jesus in Wadi al-Kharrar, the site in the desert area near the Jordan River where, according to ancient tradition, the Gospel story of the baptism of Jesus at the hands of John the Baptist took place.
The celebration will be held on Friday, 10 January, led by the Vatican Secretary of State, Card Pietro Parolin, whom Pope Francis appointed as papal legate. About 7,000 people are expected to attend the celebration, including Catholics from the Holy Land and guests from abroad.
The discovery of the site of Al-Maghtas (The Baptism or immersion), near the Wadi al-Kharrar is the result of research carried out by the great archaeologist, Michele Piccirillo, a Franciscan Brother who passed away in 2008. By identifying this location with the "Bethany Beyond the Jordan" mentioned in the Gospel of John, he brought to light the traces of some ancient churches, showing how Christian communities of antiquity first identified the site as the place where Jesus was baptised.
The rest was done by the Jordanian royal family, who strongly believed in the potential of this discovery for interreligious dialogue and tourism. Jordan’s king donated land to all the Christian denominations present in Jordan, allowing each to build a new church in this important place on the banks of the Jordan River.
John Paul II visited the site in 2000 on his historic Jubilee pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Pope Benedict XVI followed in 2009 when he laid the first stone of the Latin Church, while Pope Francis visited the construction site in 2014 where the new church will be solemnly inaugurated.
The completion of the church in this Jubilee year is an important step towards another anniversary in this corner of the Holy Land; in fact, the Baptism Site is preparing to celebrate in 2030 two thousand years of Jesus' baptism in the waters of the Jordan River.
With this in the agenda, everyone hopes that peace will allow many pilgrims to experience this important anniversary in this holy place in Jordan. Meanwhile, fresh spiritual proposals continue to be made, enriching the area.
Last summer, Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed, Chief Advisor to King Abdullah II for Religious and Cultural Affairs and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Baptism Site Authority, officially opened the Trail of John the Baptist, a footpath that runs for about three kilometres that includes seven different stations marked by biblical meditations.
It starts from Jabal Mar-Elias (Elijah's Hill), crossing the Wadi Al-Kharrar to the baptismal font, the Spring of John the Baptist and the remains of local churches built in ancient times in memory of the baptism of Jesus. The trail ends right at the Latin Church.
Photo: Abouna.org
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18/11/2022 13:29
