Holy Land Festival

Left to right: Qossay Alsattari, Michele Burke Bowe, DM, and Harry Johnson, KM

On July 25^th, leadership and staff from Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem Foundation, a shared work of the three US associations of the Order of Malta, participated in the 2^nd Annual Holy Land Festival at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, DC. This day-long festival celebrated the people, culture, and history of the Holy Land, seeking to heighten awareness of the sacred place where the Holy Family once walked. Beautiful weather beckoned many visitors to enjoy an assortment of authentic Middle Eastern food, arts and crafts, and gifts available for sale to benefit Palestinian Christians.

As active members of the Archdiocesan Holy Land Committee, the team at Holy Family Hospital Foundation sponsored a panel entitled “Peace: Medicine, Opportunity, and Youth”. The panel focused on Holy Family Hospital’s commitment to fostering peace through its provision of life-sustaining medical care to all mothers and babies of Bethlehem region. Michele Burke Bowe, DM, President of Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem Foundation’s Board of Directors and the Order of Malta’s Minister Counselor to Palestine, served as the panel moderator which included two additional panelists: Harry Johnson, KM, Board Member and Chair of the International Medical Committee at Holy Family Hospital; and Qossay Alsattari, a native of Ramallah and student of Economics and International policy at Kenyon College in Ohio. The panel sparked compelling dialogue about the work of the Order of Malta in the region.

“The Order remains dedicated to improving the lives of families throughout the Holy Land,” Mrs. Bowe remarked, “Through the principal work of the Hospital in Bethlehem, the Order provides high quality employment, continuing medical education, and life-saving medical services.  I am proud to be a part of the ongoing commitment of Blessed Fra’ Gerard in serving the sick and the poor in the Holy Land.”

The team at Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem Foundation is so grateful, once again, to have had the opportunity to share in this beautiful celebration with the many other wonderful organizations committed to preserving Christianity in the Holy Land.