Why this weekend matters

“I am taking this opportunity to endorse and renew the permission given, approving the marketing efforts of Yacoub and Muna Quomsieh, who seek to sell quality religious artifacts made by Catholic families in the Holy Land. I ask all our clergy and parishioners to support this benevolent industry.”

MOST REVEREND WILTON D. GREGORY, then Archbishop of Atlanta

“I heartily endorse their efforts, and attest to the quality of their handiwork. I join now, with many bishops of the United States, in asking you to provide Yacoub and Muna a welcome to your parish. Help them to help their friends who have such courage — courage to stay and to live and to work in the Holy Land.”

— MOST REVEREND JOHN F. DONOGHUE. former Archbishop of Atlanta

“With conflicts arising in Israel, like many of their brothers and sisters, the Qumsieh family have fled their native country due to physical danger, high unemployment rate and lack of tourism. I have seen this situation firsthand during my recent Diocesan Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. For the survival of the Christian families, the Diocese of Belleville encourages the Holylands Arts family efforts and legitimate art. We support their mission in order to prevent more Christians from leaving the Holy Land.”

— MOST REVEREND EDWARD K. BRAXTON. former Bishop of Belleville, IL.

“Bishop Paprocki grants you permission to contact the parishes of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois so as to seek their consent to display and sell religious art crafted from the Holy Land as a means of support for our Christian brothers and sisters in that part of the world. Each pastor will have to grant his or her personal approval.”

— MOST REVEREND CARL A. KEMME. then Vicar General, Diocese of Springfield in Illinois

“Because of the turmoil in the Middle East, many Christian artists and their families have struggled greatly to make their Olive Wood carvings, often the source of their livelihood, available for purchase to foreign visitors.

In the recent past, and in light of the good working relationship we have enjoyed with Ward Qumsieh’s family and the Holylands Association, and in consultation with his excellency the Most Reverend Bishop Thompson, our diocese has assisted many of these Christian families in need, by granting permission to Qumsieh for the display and sale of hand-carved religious art from the Holy Land in our parishes.”

— VERY REVEREND BERNARD ETIENNE. Diocese of Evansville, IN

“Mr. Ward Qumsieh and his family obtain products from many workshops in the City of Bethlehem. Those sales and efforts he put in the United States have made a big difference in our Christian community. The proceeds of his sales in the United States protect the guardians of the holy sites and the Church of the Nativity.”

— VERA BABOUN. former Mayor of Bethlehem

“The sale of the artistic religious items in the United States, hand-carved by many small workshops in Beit Sahour, keeps a source of income for many Christian families in our community. The Holylands Arts is legitimate and of good conduct. I encourage all of our brothers and sisters in faith to support Mr. Ward Qumsieh in accomplishing his mission.”

— HANI AL-HAYEK. former Mayor of Beit Sahour (Shepherds’ Field)

“Christians of the Holy Land and their young generations are the most vulnerable in such situations of extremism; emigration is a widely spreading phenomenon, has led them to decrease to less than 2 percent of the total population.

We partner with Holylands in playing an important role to fulfill our mission in supporting Christian poor families and small producers. We proudly work with and support Ward and Raad Qumsieh and their family, who are passionately committed to this mission, in their endeavor to help strengthen the presence of these living stones that are keeping the faith and representing the living witness of our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

— NADER ABU AMSHA. former Director of East Jerusalem YMCA