Brother Vincent Malham, President-Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University, welcomed the Universal Bishops' Conference to the University on Sunday, 11 January. Brother Vincent expressed gratitude to the Bishops for their presence among us in the Holy Land as “a sign of hope for people here.”

In coordination with the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land, Bishops and other Church representatives from Europe and the Americas held a four-day series of meetings and on-site visits in the Holy Land. Bethlehem University was honored to host “The Universal Church in Solidarity with the Church of the Holy Land” conference on-campus for their meetings with each other, students, faculty and other local representatives and to assit in coordinating their various on-site visits.

Participants in the meetings came from the US, England & Wales, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Scandinavia, Switzerland and El Salvador, the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, the British Conference of Religious, the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) and the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE).

His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Bishop Wilton Gregory, President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Brendan O'Brien, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Canada, Archbishop Patrick Kelly, Vice-President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales among others held a press conference on Thursday, 15 January 2004 in which they expressed their findings and observations concerning their visit to the Holy Land.

Urgent Need For Peace Highlighted – Full Text of Press Release