All Eyes On The Holy Land This Mother’s Day

May 6, 2009 - PRLog -- FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: (678) 990-9032;
Ashley Walker Ext. 105, awalker@maximusmg.com

As the Pope Travels to the West Bank, the Significant Role of Mother is Remembered

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 6, 2009 – On a day when the world recognizes and honors mothers, Pope Benedict XVI will visit the region where the Mother of all mothers gave birth to the Savior. He will walk where she walked. He will touch the very place where she brought Jesus into the world. In the month dedicated to the Blessed Mother, the Holy Father makes an extraordinary journey.

Like the Blessed Mother, many women in the Holy Land today are in search of a safe place to deliver their baby. The late Pope John Paul II recognized the need for maternal and neo-natal care in the West Bank  and named Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem, located just 500 yards from the birthplace of Christ, as “one of the top 100 priorities for the New Millennium.”

Holy Family Hospital, an obstetrical/gynecological facility with standards in line with those of the western part of the world, serves more than 22,000 women and children each year. Without the modern state-of-the-art birthing facilities and neonatal intensive care unit for preemies, many of these babies would die. The majority of families in the region live in primitive, impoverished, and often unsanitary conditions, similar to what the Holy Family experienced two thousand years ago.

As Pope Benedict XVI travels to this region, he will visit with many of the mothers and children who are afflicted by these conditions to bring them a message of hope. Already this year, the Holy Father has commented on the plight of poverty stricken families, recognizing that it’s the littlest ones who suffer the most. “When the dignity of women and mothers is not protected, it is the children who are affected most,” said Pope Benedict earlier this year.

Colleen Marotta, Executive Director of the U.S. based Foundation which supports the Hospital, believes it’s the generosity of Americans, even during the economic crisis, which makes the protection of mothers in Bethlehem possible. “Through the generosity of groups, individuals and churches, mothers in Bethlehem will have an opportunity to experience the joy of birth, while being cared for at Holy Family Hospital. It is amazing to see how Christians are opening their hearts to mothers who are half-way around the world.”

Patient payments only cover 33% of the actual cost of running the Hospital. The other 67% comes from donors whose hearts are open to the mothers searching for a safe place to deliver their precious child. Holy Family Hospital remains a refuge, a symbol of true peace in the Middle East, a place that remains faithful to the Christian mission of “loving your neighbor.” In most cases, the care from Holy Family Hospital’s doctor and nursing staff will be the only example of Christianity in action these families will ever see.

While the Holy Father is in the Holy Land, Executive Director of Holy Family Hospital Foundation, Colleen Marotta, will be available for interviews. Please contact Ashley Walker at 678-990-9032 or by email at awalker@maximusmg.com. For information on hosting a baby shower to help the mothers in Bethlehem, please visit www.BirthplaceofHope.org.