Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and U.S. community and business leaders are uniting with the Franciscan friars of the Holy Land to bring peace, raise awareness and serve families in need as economic and political pressures threaten the families’ stability.

For nearly 800 years, Franciscan friars have cared for sacred Christian shrines in the Holy Land and provided desperately needed pastoral care, schools, housing, jobs and social services.

Growing economic and political pressures in Syria and the broader region are threatening the economic stability of local families and their ability to stay in their homelands and are increasing demand for the Franciscan friars’ services and peace efforts.

Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop emeritus of Washington and a leader with interreligious peace efforts in the Middle East,  is heading up a new group focused on increasing awareness of the needs of the people and supporting the friars’ pastoral and social service works in the region.

Joining Cardinal McCarrick on the Honorary Board of the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land are former U.S. ambassadors to the Vatican, R. James Nicholson and Thomas Melady; former Congressman Robert Livingston; Michael Novak, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights; Cokie Roberts, author and journalist, and others.

“Without the friars, the Holy Land will become simply a museum of Christ’s life rather than a living witness to the Incarnation, where God became man. Through the honorary board we will develop strategies to increase awareness in the United States of the difficulties facing Christians and others in the Holy Land and support for the important work of the Franciscan friars,” said Cardinal McCarrick.

Franciscan friars have worked in the Holy Land for nearly 800 years. The 300 friars in the region care for the sacred shrines associated with Christ’s life, serve in 29 parishes and provide affordable housing, schools, employment training and social services for thousands of families in Israel, Palestine, Cyprus, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, regardless of religion.

The Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, DC (also on Facebook), was founded to support the ministry of the friars in the Holy Land, to serve as a pilgrimage site for those who cannot travel to the Holy Land and to support vocations for the Franciscans of the Holy Land.

The full list of honorary board members is online at myfranciscan.com.