Jerusalem religious communities ask for help to renovate gardens damaged by wildfires

JERUSALEM (OSV News) -- The Emmaus Nicopolis Community of the Beatitudes located in the foothills of the Jerusalem forest has begun a fundraising effort as parts of the community's property and gardens were destroyed in a forest fire that began on April 30 and burned almost 5,000 acres of land.

In a Facebook post, a member of the community noted that in addition to rehabilitating the land, they will need to recover all the gardening tools, replace large sections of the electricity cable and fix the water pipes that irrigate the garden.

In a French-language video, the sister indicated they need to "cut, discard a lot" and "redo all the gardens, clean them up, throw away all the waste, (rebuild) the two bungalows that were destroyed."

The fire also destroyed the olive orchards of the nearby Latrun Abbey -- popular in the area for its wines and olive oil, noted Brother M.-Athanase of the abbey in an open letter shared with journalists.

He said that some of the brothers "returned to an abbey affected by fire-fighting products, but the entire abbey was spared from the blaze," adding that the "smell of smoke permeates everything. The surrounding landscape is desolate; the fire has attacked the olive trees, destroying most of them by the roots. The fields, in the middle of haymaking, are all charred. In this disaster, the green lines of the vines are cracking the coal of their vigor."

And said that "the fire spread from the hill opposite the abbey," descended "and then climbed back up towards the castle ruins," but by "some unknown means," the brother noted, "it 'stepped over' the most important parts of the vineyard, finally stopping" only 6.5 feet from the abbey walls "and then starting again further away, facing the road," he wrote.

Far from being discouraged, he said, the monks remain motivated not to "abandon prayer in this Holy Land, which seems to make their lives a daily challenge," he said, also making an appeal for financial help to repair their property.

Their imposing monastery, a landmark in the area, was spared from any damage as some of the monks remained at the monastery to battle the flames along with the firefighters.

Both communities were evacuated during the fire, along with three other villages in the area. The sisters from the Community of the Beatitudes were welcomed by neighboring Jewish Kibbutz Gezer and the Trappist monks of Latrun were hosted by the Benedictine monastery in the Arab village of Abu Gosh just outside of Jerusalem.

After 24 hours of battling the blaze, firefighters secured the area and the communities were permitted to return.

Retired Auxiliary Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo of Jerusalem visited the religious communities on May 1 with a small delegation of bishops from the Latin Patriarchate.

"Fortunately the whole community is doing well. The main building in the monastery is in good condition. A lot of trees, wood, of course burned down around the house and all of it has been destroyed. Thank God everything else is fine," he said in a video message in another Facebook post.

"Personally I think God has helped us all in this, especially as this is a holy place that is getting ready to receive many pilgrims who are beginning to return to the Holy Land."

Though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed 18 people had been arrested on suspicion of arson, the police said they had arrested only three people but no charges have been filed yet.

A firefighting helicopter from Cyprus arrived in the early morning May 1 to assist in battling the flames, which continued throughout the day, and more aerial support was to arrive from Croatia, Bulgaria and Italy, with Ukraine, Spain and France also pledging assistance.

The fire broke out on Israel's Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, leading to the cancellation of many ceremonies marking the eve of Independence Day.

It was the second wildfire to break out in the Jerusalem area in two weeks, with the especially dry weather and strong winds quickly spreading the fire which also forced the closure of main highways.