Father Peter Vasko, OFM, made what has become an annual trip to Columbus to give the featured address at the Cradling Christianity benefit dinner supporting the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land on Thursday, Sept. 7 at Columbus Our Lady of Victory Church.

The dinner was preceded by a Mass with Bishop Earl Fernandes serving as the principal celebrant for the second consecutive year. The bishop also offered remarks to the 210 attendees after the dinner and before the presentation by Father Vasco, foundation president. 

Father David Schalk, pastor at Powell St. Joan of Arc and Columbus St. Peter churches, offered the opening prayer at the dinner. Doug Lessells, a local broadcaster and businessman, served as the emcee for the evening. Kris and Dee Pellissier were co-chairs of the event.

Dee Pellissier, one of the co-chairs for the Cradling Christianity event, pauses to pray.  CT photo by Ken Snow

The principal mission of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, founded in 1994, is to provide opportunities and educational assistance to allow Christians to remain in the region. In the past 29 years with Father Vasco as president, the foundation has raised $51 million.

That money goes toward scholarships for students in the Holy Land. According to the foundation, 97 percent of the students with an educational degree remain in the Holy Land.

“It’s good to be back in Columbus, and I’m really excited to have the opportunity to speak with all of you, and I thank you for your presence here this evening,” Father Vasco told the audience. “I’m equally excited to tell you about the great news of what Cradling Christianity is doing in the Holy Land.”

Cradling Christianity was founded in 2006 by a small group of Catholics in Columbus to support the work of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land. The group held fundraising events supported by Father Vasco for 14 consecutive years until the events were suspended in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One of the ways Cradling Christianity has been so helpful is that, as a result of your giving throughout these many years, 40 college students have received tuition assistance and, upon graduation, all of them have attained professional employment,” Father Vasco said. “Your financial contributions have provided hope and opportunities to others.”

He described the difficulties for Christians living in the Holy Land, where only 0.2 percent of the population (approximately 175,000 people) is Christian. An estimated 300 families leave each year because of political strife and economic hardship, raising concerns that Christians might disappear from the region of Christ’s birth, death and resurrection in the next 50 years.  

Cradling Christianity has raised more than $1 million since its inception to provide funds for the Franciscan Foundation’s university scholarship program. At this year’s dinner, two auctions raised $23,000. 

“It’s good to be in the Holy Land, … but when we’re speaking about the Holy Land, we’re speaking also about a conflict that has been going on there between the Israelis and the Palestinian Muslims for the past 76 years,” Father Vasco explained. 

“And the Christians – our Christians – are caught in the middle. … They are in the minority, facing discrimination every day, yet still struggling and hoping for peace, justice and a better future.

“However, the good news is that, in the midst of all this turmoil, there are organizations like Cradling Christianity, the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, which have been reaching out all these many years and helping the Christians, giving them hope for their future and their children’s future.”

Bishop Earl Fernandes elevates the host during a Mass preceding a Cradling Christianity event at Columbus Our Lady of Victory Church. Concelebrating is Father Peter Vasko, OFM, (left) president of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, and assisting is Deacon Paul Zemanek. CT photos by Ken Snow

Local members have made pilgrimages to the Holy Land through the years, and Father Vasco encouraged anyone with the means to consider traveling there.

“One of the things you can do as a follower of Christ, if you haven’t already, is to come and make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land,” he said. “Pilgrimage is a calling. It’s not for everybody. You have to pray about it. But a pilgrimage is something in which you leave your family, your friends, your business, to do what? To see the divine. That’s what pilgrimage is.

“Could you imagine being there, where Our Lord was crucified for our sins? Right there on Calvary? You’re there, and you can touch Golgotha, a foot and a half away from where the actual cross was. 

“Or to be in the place where He resurrected – in the tomb of Our Lord? Where He gave us life everlasting? To be in the place where Jesus was born – in Bethlehem – the very spot where he was born?

“There are things that I can’t explain to you, what happens when you’re there. It’s something that you have to experience on your own. And I just want to mention that we do have a pilgrimage coming from Columbus the end of (next) February, and I will be guiding it. 

“So, pray about coming to the Holy Land. See what the Lord wants you to do. And, I’m telling you, your life becomes completely changed when you come back.”

Bishop Fernandes asked Cradling Christianity supporters and all of the faithful to consider not only giving financially but also spiritually.

“Part of what we are doing tonight, and part of what the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land wants to do, is give a voice to the voiceless, to raise funds so that Christians can stay in their homes and be present in the Holy Land and be forces of peace rather than forces of violence,” he said.

“So, while your sacrifices and gifts are important, your accompaniment – your prayers, your solidarity – is also important because it’s a way of communicating our love for the Christians in the Holy Land.”

The bishop stressed the importance of listening to the Holy Spirit to discern how God wants each person to serve Him and to assist brothers and sisters in Christ.

“We need to listen to the stories of our brothers and sisters and tell others, not only about their sufferings but also about their joy in being Catholics and in being Christians,” he said. 

“I was with a Nigerian Capuchin (Father Anthony Essien, OFM Cap.), who is now here in the Diocese of Columbus, and he said, ‘You know, I am the chaplain now at Bishop Hartley High School, and we are Catholic and unapologetically so.’ And this brought joy to my heart.

“We need to say the same thing about being Christians. Our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land know they are Christians and are unapologetically so. So let us support them with our prayers and sacrifices.”

For more information about the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land programs and pilgrimages, visit ffhl.org.