Link: https://bit.ly/3BW3avt
From: Christian Media Center
Bethlehem University is a strategic partner of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, in terms of training and university education in general, being the only Catholic university in the Holy Land. On 27 August, two agreements were signed between them to follow this path.
SAMI AL-YOUSSEF
General Bursar of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
“Two agreements were signed today between the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and Bethlehem University: the first one involves the implementation of a project to increase the skills of young people and create job opportunities in the parishes of the Latin Patriarchate and in some parishes of the Custody of the Holy Land in the West Bank.
The second agreement is in partnership with the Faculty of Religious Studies of Bethlehem University, to qualify Christian religion teachers in Christian schools in the West Bank”.
The two agreements were signed at Bethlehem University. These two projects are funded by the Porticus Foundation and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
Education is free of charge and the first project, entitled Afaq (Horizons), aims to provide its participants with skills training in economics through the Institute of Community Partnerships (ICP), at the end of which they can obtain loans or grants to establish small projects for their livelihoods.
SAMI AL-YOUSSEF
General Bursar of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
“Of course this has come in the wake of the Corona pandemic and the very high unemployment rate, which has affected our Palestinian communities and of course the various Christian communities in the West Bank.”
Not to mention the drama of Christian emigration from the Holy Land.
The training project for teachers of Christian religion in collaboration with the Office for Catechesis qualifies participants to obtain a certificate from Bethlehem University.
MICHELLE ROCK
Head of the Faculty of Religious Studies at Bethlehem University
When the teacher is religiously qualified to teach religious education, this is certainly reflected in the students who need not only to hear God’s word, but also to live it.
Creating job opportunities to earn a living, and new prospects for life at the same time. This is what the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem seeks to achieve in cooperation with Bethlehem University.
Br Dr. PETER BRAY, fsc
Vice-Chancellor of Bethlehem University
“We are really interested in this project. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the founding of the university in 2023, we look at the reason for its foundation, which is to serve the Palestinian people through education