Message about the clergy

Friday, May 04, 2001 8:09 AM

Dear TLIG Family.

Of the 75 Clergy who attended the TLIG conference of March 2000, only nine have applied for the 2002 conference. Many of them have no access to Internet. Can all of you check who had come from your own country to the Holy Land in 2000 and take the initiative and responsibility to send them a registration form. It is not fair that so little thought is given to our clergy. This is a work that can be done by you. Please do not wait for one another to do this. Coordination is needed and not assumptions. Please contact David Armitage immediately, informing him of which priests you have informed, even if they do not intend to apply.

Note that the deadline for incoming applications is at the end of June 2001 and so please inform them of the deadline. Serious criticism was made by certain attending clergy during the pilgrimage of March 2000 that TLIG appears to be rolling in money. This comment, that came to my ear, was made out of ignorance of the facts. These facts simply were that many generous individuals had made personal sacrifice by donating or seeing that donations were collected to cover the costs of the clergy.

Due to this criticism I am obliged to withdraw this offer. The clergy will need to find their own way of financing their trip and will have to take some responsibility in doing this. Bearing this in mind, TLIG people should stay in touch with their priests and see if they can be of any help to them.

God bless you,

Vassula.

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