On 7 June on the stage of the Terra Sancta School in Bethlehem, the second "Apostles of Palestine" competition dedicated to Bible knowledge came to an end. At the ceremony were Mgr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins, the mayor of Bethlehem Anton Salman, Mgr Giacinto Boulos Marcuzzo, Father Khaled Qamua, general supervisor of the competition, Father Yacoub Abu Saada, parish priest of the Melchite Catholic parish of Bethlehem, Sister Agnes El Yacoub, Superior General of the Rosary Sisters and Brother Ibrahim Faltas, Director of the Terra Sancta Schools. Several religious communities and the families of the contestants were also present. The evening began with a Bible reading followed by the Palestinian national anthem. The competition was organised by the "Sons of the Earth" Association with the support of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Pontifical Mission of the Holy Land. HB Mgr PIERBATTISTA PIZZABALLA, ofm Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins "We need new ways to teach our children the fundamentals of our faith, which are found within the Bible. This is a modern way to make them part of what constitutes their identity." NISREEN AL-ARAJ Director of the "Apostles of Palestine" Bible Competition "The initiative is aimed at ninth grade students throughout Palestine, from Gaza to Jenin, but due to current conditions Gaza was unable to participate. We are addressing eighth grade students because this is the age group where adolescence begins, and we try to offer them insights into the Bible and our mission as Christians in Palestine." The celebration began with some welcome speeches and artistic and musical performances by the Bethlehem Academy of Music Band. In his speech, Patriarch Pizzaballa stressed the importance of teaching religious culture to students in Christian schools. He announced that the Patriarchate will open two institutes to teach the Bible and Theology in Arabic, one in Bethlehem and one in Nazareth or Haifa. In the final stage of the competition, ten contestants competed for the top three places, for which some prizes were awarded. NISREEN AL-ARAJ Director of the "Apostles of Palestine" Bible Competition "The value of the prize will be determined by the organising committee according to the economic conditions of the contestants: a pilgrimage to Italy with a visit to the Vatican and a meeting with the Pope, or a cash prize." However, all ten finalists received a prize of one hundred dollars for reaching the fourth and final stage of the competition. RAMI ZANANIRI Responsible for programming the competition "We started the first phase of the competition online, as it was difficult for the students to gather in one place because of the Coronavirus pandemic." The last round took place on the computer, and the questions asked to the students and the correct answers were not announced to the audience. The jury was made up of priests, lay Bible experts and the Sisters of the Congregation of the Holy Rosary. At the end, to the applause of those present, the names of the three winners were announced: Katia Ghattas, Lauren Khoury and Wassim Salibi. KATIA GHATTAS Winner of the second "Apostles of Palestine" Bible Competition "It is a wonderful feeling to win a competition related to the word of God, because no matter how much you read it, you will never reach a complete knowledge of the information about God: every time you open the Bible you find a new message and new information, which brings a new spirit within you. I wish all the students in the coming year to take part in this competition, because it is a wonderful competition." NISREEN AL-ARAJ Director of the "Apostles of Palestine" Bible Competition "In the first year we had 200 students, this year we had 400: this indicates that we are indeed proclaiming the Gospel to a multitude of people!" Read More