Archbishop Paul Cremona was so impressed by the amount of youths doing voluntary work during his first visit to the Holy Land recently that he hopes to organise a group from Malta next year.
It was the first time in the last 20 years since the Franciscans have been organising pilgrimages to the Holy Land that they were accompanied by an Archbishop - an event Fr Twanny Chircop, involved in the organisation, considered to be "historic".
For Mgr Cremona it was a long-time wish which finally came true and he is now hooked, hoping to return.
On a personal level, he described the pilgrimage as a major experience, which allows one to feel the strength of one's faith and religious spirit within. "Some go to search for their faith; in our case, we went to confirm it," he said.
"Seeing with your own eyes the sites, such as Galilee and the Dead Sea, what you read comes alive," the Archbishop said.
Fr Chircop described the pilgrimage as very positive in that it left the pilgrims with a strong taste of spirituality. He was impressed with the turnout - 170 pilgrims, mostly elderly, joined - and attributed the interest in the trip to the presence of the Archbishop, which encouraged them to visit a country that is considered to be dangerous. Fr Chircop said it was not the bombing that upset the priests in Israel - that was not as constant as it was made out to be and they got used to it anyway. What caused suffering was the fact that no pilgrims visited the sanctuaries. Mgr Cremona said he expected to see police officers and soldiers at every corner but was surprised that it was not the case and that there was a sense of tranquillity, particularly in places like Galilee.
The one-week pilgrimage included stops in Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem but the Archbishop was most hit by the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem, where he spent some time alone, savouring what he described as the "strongest moment".
Other bonuses for the Archbishop included witnessing the work of the Franciscans, not only on a religious but also on a social level, whereby they helped the Palestinians, who live in poverty, he said.
Mgr Cremona was particularly struck by his encounter with a Maltese cloister nun who had left Malta for Israel on an air force aircraft in 1940. He also met several other Maltese nuns and priests who have been in Israel for 30 to 50 years.
"What they are doing is amazing: They help prisoners; engage in religious dialogue; work with Muslims, at hospital and university," he said.
Mgr Cremona will be joining a pilgrimage of the Knights of the Order of St John to Lourdes next month.