Over a two-hour period, a warm meeting took place between the Catholic Center for Studies and Media (CCSM) members of staff and Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court His Excellency Mr. Yousef Al-Isawi. The delegation included head and members of the CCSM’s Consultation Council.
Many thanks are conveyed to His Excellency Mr. Yousef Al-Isawi for the continuous and tireless hospitality expressed in the home of all Jordanians, and for conveying love to the people under the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al-Hussein Ibn Abdullah II.
The Council of Consultation includes an elite group of the dear homeland who express sincere love and appreciation. Through the Royal Court, they conveyed a message of loyalty, belonging and pride in their wise Hashemite leadership. The CCSM was established 13 years ago by the Latin Patriarchate. It provides through its employees and its noble Council of Consultations the service of spreading free and authentic journalistic views by focusing on the news of Churches in various parts of the Arab world, and promoting Islamic-Christian dialogue throughout the world. Through its media channels, the CCSM focuses on everything His Majesty the King says at local, Arab and international forums. His Majesty the King has become the dean of Arab leaders and the spokesman for those seeking justice, peace, stability, and independence, especially the Palestinian people who have been yearning for the attainment of freedom and justice, as well as fairness to the people’s demands made for decades. The Palestinian issue did not start in October 2023, but as His Majesty the King, may God protect him, noted that it is 76 years old, and it is due time for not only ending the current war, but for the elimination of the occupation in its entirety, so that the Palestinian people would enjoy an independent life and an independent state on their national soil with noble Jerusalem as its capital.
After listening to the address made by host Abu Al-Hassan--in which he focused on His Majesty the King’s role and Jordan with regards to the continuous and urgent calls to extinguish the fires of war, and to deliver aid to the needy by land and air, and for the endless calls to the international community to find a just solution to the Palestinian issue--the attendees indicated that Jerusalem is in the mind of the Hashemites, a trust carried by His Majesty King Abdullah II like his father, may God have mercy on him, King Hussein Ibn Talal, and his Hashemite ancestors, with an internationally recognized Hashemite custodianship of the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. In association with His Majesty the King, we have called for preserving the status quo in noble Jerusalem, so that it may be the capital of peace and harmony in the entire world. His Majesty also calls for preserving the Arab Christian identity in the holy city, where the number of Christians today does not exceed 8,000 people.
We thank God for the prevailing security and stability in our beloved Jordan where the Islamic-Christian cohesion is a model school. At any rate, there is always constant praise for what Jordan has achieved with its Hashemite leadership in all forums, as all these good initiatives have been launched in order to maintain Jordan as an oasis of dialogue and a model to be emulated in the entire world. This honorable meeting took place in a noble year in which we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the launching of the Amman Message in its capacity as one of the wonderful dialogue initiatives launched by His Majesty the King during his blessed reign. It is also the most beautiful coincidence with His Majesty the King's Silver Jubilee which represents a quarter of a century of unstinting and unlimited benevolence.
We also celebrate the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which are based on continuous cooperation in education and in joint calls for peace. His Holiness Pope Francis said a few days ago, in a press conference on the plane carrying him back from Singapore, “I am very, very grateful to the King of Jordan. He is a man of peace and he tries to make peace.”
The meeting was on a Sunday, and we along with the Churches of the Kingdom lifted up our prayers for God to protect Jordan’s leadership and people, and we jointly made a heartfelt plea, “May God keep you as our resort”.
